


Power and Control

by FuryRed



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Bickering, Calm Down Erik, Charles Always Says the Absolute Worst Thing He Could Possibly Say, Dubious Consent, Erik is Crushing Harder than a 12-year Old Girl, Erik is not a Happy Bunny, Honestly Charles What Are You Thinking, Kidnapping, M/M, Sexual Tension, aggressive flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-08-22 09:54:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 64,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8281694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuryRed/pseuds/FuryRed
Summary: Charles had done a number of stupid things in his lifetime, but this was probably the worst.Deciding to piss off the leader of The Brotherhood of Mutants was a recipe for disaster, particularly when said leader had a reputation for swift and bloody vengeance. But, as it turned out, being murdered wasn’t what Charles would need to worry about. Apparently there’s a great many things you can do to exert your power over someone, rather than simply killing them…





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

This was, undoubtedly, a very bad idea.

But not one of Charles’ worst ideas. No, that honour probably went to the time some kid had bet him he couldn’t climb the tallest tree in the local park, and Charles had dutifully accepted- scaling the branches agilely before promptly falling and breaking his leg. Or perhaps Charles’ worst idea was the time he’d slept with his English teacher- she may have been old enough to be his mother, but it did earn him an ‘A’. Or maybe it was that night he’d gone to a bar for a quiet drink and had come across a bachelor party celebrating an impending wedding, and he’d gone home with the groom…

Either way, Charles had experienced a lifetime of bad decisions- often spurred on by pride and cockiness, and a substantial need for attention. This situation, however, was very different. Today’s bad idea was the result of Charles’ deep need to protect the weak- to defend the defenceless. It could almost be called a good idea, had the result of said plan not meant his circumstances were now so breathtakingly fucked.

Taking on The Brotherhood of Mutants- what was Charles thinking?

Charles had only gone to the rally for fun really- to see the famous Brotherhood in all their arrogant glory. He wanted to listen to them ramble on about mutant supremacy, he wanted to see just how many naïve young mutants would come to hear them talk.

Part of Charles wanted to use his telepathy to send all the followers away; to make the courtyard completely empty so that when the leaders came out to preach there would be no one waiting for them. That would have been satisfying, for sure, but risky.... The Brotherhood were mainly known for their rousing speeches and powerful demonstrations, but there was another side to them. Rumour had it that people who crossed The Brotherhood sometimes had a tendency to… _disappear_.

And so, Charles decided to just play it cool. He found a secluded spot way back from the stage- just in front of the wall that surrounded the courtyard- where he stood and waited for the event to start; his friend- Hank, accompanying him. Hank was just as unimpressed with The Brotherhood as Charles was- both men were scientists, so of course they understood how having mutant genes made them technically superior to humans, they just… didn’t think it made them better than anyone else.

“Tell me again, Charles”, Hank said quietly, leaning down to speak to him. “Just why are we here? Why are we deliberately annoying ourselves by watching this charade?”

“Well, Hank, how else are we supposed to feel good about ourselves if we don’t have others to judge?” Charles replied, smirking.

“Right… You’re not going to do anything… _rash_ , are you?”

“Sadly not. As much as I’d like to put a stop to this nonsense, you know how I feel about intervening with people’s free will… Even if the people in question happen to be incredibly stupid”.

Perhaps Charles was speaking a bit too loudly, as abruptly a man standing in front of him and Hank turned to glare at them both. Well, Charles thought it was a glare- it was hard to tell given that the man was wearing very dark goggles that covered his eyes- but when he flicked a long reptilian tongue out at them Charles decided that the man was definitely not impressed.

Charles didn’t have time to put his foot in it even further, as suddenly there was a thrum of excitement towards the front of the crowd and everyone directed their attention to the stage.

The leaders of The Brotherhood stepped out to rapturous applause. Mystique was first- looking sleek and sly as she gracefully moved forward, her brilliant blue skin shining in the sunlight. She was impressive, no doubt- and Charles had always been fascinated by visible mutations- but Mystique was also known for her callous attitude to human life; something which Charles could not abide.

Following shortly after Mystique was her second-in-command: Magneto. Less was known about him. For all intents and purposes he seemed to be incredibly private- apparently happy to let Mystique be the front in all their operations, which she certainly had a flair for. However, Magneto was the one rumoured to be running things behind the scenes- and Charles had heard stories about just what he could do with his powers. Someone who could move bridges and airplanes like they were nothing certainly wasn’t a person to be trifled with.

Magneto strode across the stage like a general greeting an army, his impressive cape billowing out behind him. Quite frankly, Charles found it ridiculous. Who wears a cape? Honestly…

Charles was still scowling when Magneto approached the microphone at the front of the stage and addressed the crowd:

“Brothers and sisters- you are all here today because you share a common belief. You believe that mutants are superior to the common man. You believe that our race represents the future of civilization as we know it. And you’re right…”

The speech went on for many, many more minutes- much to Charles’ chagrin. Magneto certainly knew how to draw in a crowd though- they were all staring faithfully at the stage, completely hypnotised by his words. Charles found himself staring too- wondering just what could have happened to this man to make him so single-minded and determined. What had made him hate humans so much.

By the time Magneto had finished talking the crowd had been suitably whipped into a frenzy- cheering and stamping their feet as he stepped back from the microphone and Mystique stepped forward.

Mystique’s speech was slightly less succinct. Clearly she was a woman of action, not words, but regardless the crowd eagerly absorbed her message- whilst Magneto watched supportively with his arms folded.

A lengthy amount of time later and Charles felt like the speech had gone on for far too long. He was beginning to get a headache from all of the vitriol in the air; the heady swell of emotions filling his senses.

That was probably why Charles felt compelled to do something rather silly…

Mystique was still talking- gesturing heatedly at the crowd as she hammered her point home. Charles was bored, and tired, and aggravated, and it seemed like such a good idea to just briefly reach into Mystique’s mind with his telepathy and make her start doing a hilarious dance.

The crowd visibly stilled in shock when it happened- confused murmurs spreading through the congregation before eventually one person started to laugh, then another, then another… A swell of hilarity spread through the crowd- as quick as anger had earlier- and Charles was exorbitantly pleased. He allowed himself a satisfied smile before he loosened his hold on Mystique’s mind- watching her shudder to a stop, a horrified expression on her face.

Charles felt a small sliver of guilt but he couldn’t help laughing too. Hank, meanwhile, was altogether less amused as he gaped at Charles in mild panic.

As it turned out, Hank was right to be worried.

Magneto raised one hand and the vast majority of the crowd fell to their knees- leaving only small numbers of people standing. Charles’ eyes darted around in confusion- the smile slipping from his face as he noticed the same metal cuff on the arm of every person who’d fallen. Clearly there was more to being a supporter of The Brotherhood than Charles had first thought…

Magneto scanned the masses like a shark searching out its prey, eyes darting from one cluster of upright people to the next as he looked for- Charles assumed- signs of guilt and responsibility. Charles shifted nervously where he stood, hoping to just blend into the crowd, before his gaze flicked over to Hank and he realised how royally screwed he was. Hank was blue. Fucking blue! Magneto’s eyes were on them in an instant- honing in on Charles and Hank with laser precision. Magneto pointed his fingers towards them, and Charles had seen enough.

“Time to go”, Charles urged- grasping Hank tightly on the arm and pulling him backwards. He sent a glancing blow at Magneto with his mind- barely taking the time to watch as he fell backwards on the stage before Charles turned and began to push through the crowd.

Charles and Hank were able to exit easily- due in part to the fact that so many people were on their knees, but also because anyone that blocked them was quickly shoved out of the way by Hank. They only had to move back a short way before they could duck behind the wall that encircled the courtyard, and then they were running- Charles sprinting as fast as he could whilst Hank lumbered along ahead of him on his hands and feet.

Charles wasn’t _afraid_ , necessarily. He knew he could defend himself. But at the same time, Charles despised violence- so getting into a confrontation with two irate fanatics wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time. Running was definitely better, for all concerned.

This was good- they were getting away. Charles felt a sense of relief wash over him as he rounded another corner, feeling the minds in the courtyard gradually fade into insignificance.

But then there was a sudden sharp pain in the side of Charles’ neck, and everything went black.

 

 

 

Charles was dreaming of the sea. In his mind he saw cobalt blue depths and high cerulean waves crashing down, and he was drifting amongst them. It was relaxing really, and Charles didn’t want to leave his dream state, but eventually he cracked his eyes open ever so slightly and there was… more blue. But not the blue of the ocean- the blue of gas flames and sharp sapphires and dragon scales. Never had a colour screamed ‘danger’ quite so vehemently to Charles.

Eyes snapping open fully, Charles jolted upwards from his position lying on the floor- finding himself locked in the deadly gaze of Mystique’s menacing yellow eyes. She was crouching over him, and Charles couldn’t help but instinctively scoot backwards away from her- at the same time reaching forward with his telepathy to defend himself and finding… nothing.

Charles’ face fell as his mind remained a void- the familiar hum of nearby thoughts curiously absent. He reached a hand to his temple, stretching his telepathy out desperately but coming up against blankness; a sick feeling beginning to pool in the pit of his stomach as he realised that something was horribly wrong.

“You can give that a rest”, Mystique said coolly, “Your powers are blocked right now”.

Charles could only gape back at her in disbelief, his eyes moving to dart frantically around the room as he took in his surroundings. Dim light filtered in through the windows that ran down two sides of the room, and there was a single door at the rear wall that was firmly closed. Everything seemed to be wooden- from the walls to the floor to the ceiling, which made Charles imagine he was in some sort of cabin. The room was sparsely furnished- a single desk adorning one wall, which Charles noticed Magneto leaning casually against, his eyes trained carefully on Charles.

There was a low groan to the side of him, and Charles looked over to regard a man he’d never seen before lying on the ground. Charles squinted as he leaned closer, until suddenly he realised he recognised the glasses the man was wearing.

“Hank, is that you?”, Charles whispered in disbelief. Charles had never seen Hank like this before- looking _human_ as he lay unconscious on the floor, skin visible rather than covered in thick blue fur. Clearly, whatever had been done to affect Charles’ mutation had happened to Hank too.

“What the hell have you done to us?”, Charles demanded angrily, turning to glare up at Mystique. She had moved from her stance crouched on the floor and was now staring down at Charles with her arms folded.

“I hardly think you’re in the position to be demanding answers”, Mystique snarled, “Don’t forget who started this. If you hadn’t played your little trick with the telepathy, then none of this would have happened”.

“Telepathy? I don’t know what you’re talking about”, Charles replied, eyes wide in mock innocence. “I was just there to watch the show, I had no idea you were such a twinkle-toes”.

Mystique’s face curled in a fierce scowl, however when Charles glanced over to Magneto he could see the man’s mouth briefly twitch in a smile before it disappeared just as quickly.

“Don’t play games with us, you have no idea what we could do to you”, Mystique replied coldly.

“You’re right, I don’t”, Charles said carefully, “And I’m curious to find out just exactly what you’ve got planned, considering you claim to value mutants above all others and yet you’ve stripped mine and Hank’s powers away. Do you not see the irony in that? Doesn’t stunting our abilities completely contradict everything that you stand for?”

“Believe me, I wish there was another option”, Magneto interjected, drawing Charles’ attention to him. “My hope is that one day all mutants will stand together- united. But it’s clear that there are certain… _undesirable_ elements in the mutant community…” he raised his eyebrows at Charles pointedly, “And in my experience those people need a little more special attention in order to come around to our way of thinking”.

“Special attention?” Charles scoffed sarcastically, “What exactly is that supposed to mean? Are you going to torture us until we agree with you? Brainwash us? Kill us if we don’t fall in line?”

There was clatter to the side of Charles as Hank suddenly jolted upright- jerking from unconsciousness at last. He looked around frantically, mouth gaping open in confusion and horror as he took in the sight of Magneto and Mystique standing over them.

Charles reached out a hand to comfort him, gripping Hank lightly on the arm, but when Hank looked down at where Charles’ hand lay he jolted again as he took in his suddenly human appearance. Charles was noticing something unexpected too- a metal cuff on Hank’s wrist. It looked very much like the ones they had seen on the followers in the courtyard, only those had been silver, and the one spanning Hank’s wrist was black. Charles frowned, turning to look at his other arm and finding an identical cuff on his own wrist.

“Charles, where are we?” Hank whispered hopelessly, avoiding looking at Mystique and Magneto.

Charles was lost in thought as he stared at the cuff on his wrist, lifting it up to his face and attempting to slide his fingers underneath it. There was a sharp tug on the cuff which caused Charles to let out a small yelp- looking up to find Magneto staring at him, his fingers outstretched. Magneto dropped his hand, and the pressure on the cuff relented.

“I wouldn’t go playing with that, if I were you”, Magneto said solemnly. “Please understand- I don’t wish to hurt you, either of you, but I can’t have you interfering with our plans. And so, it would be best if you didn’t struggle. You’ll find that life here can be quite pleasant, if you let it”.

“And where exactly is ‘here’?” Charles asked bitterly.

Magneto stood upright from where he was leaning against the desk, walking over to Charles in a few long strides. Charles recoiled instinctively, seeing a disconcerted look pass over Magneto’s face as he watched Charles shy away. There was a short sigh, and then Magneto reached out towards Charles- but this time not to move the metal on Charles’ wrist, instead to offer Charles a hand up.

“Come with me and see”.

 

 

 

The last time Charles had been to a summer camp he was twelve years old. He’d been thrilled about going- keen as he was to get away from home and his mother and step-brother, and that summer turned out to be one of the best memories Charles had from his childhood.

He had a feeling, however, that this ‘camp’ would be entirely different.

It would be ridiculous to call it a summer camp, really, but Charles couldn’t help being reminded of that type of environment. When he’d walked out of the cabin he’d woken up in minutes earlier- blinking at the bright sunlight and shielding his eyes- Charles had been shocked to discover that he appeared to be in the middle of a forest. For as far as he could see there were trees all around, with other cabins dotted in-between them, and in the distance Charles could also see a large lake.

Charles had whirled around to face his captors- questioning how they were suddenly in the middle of the woods when minutes earlier they’d been in the city. Then, in the distance, Charles had seen the fractured movement of a teleporter moving through the trees, and his question had been answered.

“So what exactly is the plan here?” Charles demanded eventually, scowling at Mystique and Magneto whilst Hank stepped out of the cabin looking equally confused.

Magneto only regarded Charles coolly. “The plan is- you stay here, until I decide you can leave. **If** I decide you can leave. You will behave yourself. You will work well with the other mutants. You will **not** try to escape”.

“And if we refuse to obey?” Charles dared to ask, glaring brazenly at Magneto.

The corner of Magneto’s mouth briefly lifted up in a smirk.

“Try it, and you’ll soon find out”.

 

 

 

For the next few hours Charles felt like he was in some sort of bizarre dream. Mystique and Magneto left- to go tend to whatever exciting business they filled their time with, no doubt- and Charles and Hank were left with one of The Brotherhood’s followers. The man who joined them didn’t say much, he just beckoned for Charles and Hank to follow him and wandered off down a nearby pathway. Neither Charles nor Hank made any attempt to move, but when the man turned towards them and twirled his fingers suddenly a wind whipped up around the both of them- pushing them forward. Charles and Hank had no choice but to trail after him.

After following their escort through the woods for several minutes eventually they were led to another cabin. The man opened the door and gestured for Charles and Hank to enter, which they did begrudgingly. As soon as they were inside, the door slammed shut behind them and Charles and Hank were left alone. Or so they thought.

Charles looked around the room- taking in the four small beds down one side of the cabin and the row of storage cupboards opposite them. It seemed like comfortable enough accommodation, but that didn’t make Charles feel any less tense. He edged into the room cautiously, observing his surroundings as Hank did the same, when abruptly there was movement at the back of the room and a woman stepped out from behind one of the cupboards.

Charles and Hank froze where they stood, glancing at each other nervously.

“Hey, guys it’s okay, don’t worry- I’m friendly”, the woman offered, stepping towards them both and holding up her hands as if in submission. She approached them carefully- dressed in grey jeans and a plain white t-shirt, her dark brown hair falling over her shoulders with a single strand of white running through it. Charles regarded the woman anxiously, until his gaze flicked down to the black metal cuff on her wrist, and he realised she was very much in the same position as he and Hank were.

“I’m Anna Marie”, the woman said, smiling and offering her hand to Charles.

Charles accepted her hand and shook it. “Charles Xavier, and this is Hank”.

“Nice to meet you both, although I suppose it’s not under the best of circumstances”, Anna Marie said, smiling thinly.

“Yes, I guess not”, Charles replied. “How long have you been here?”

“Around seven months”.

Charles eyes visibly widened in shock. “They’ve kept you here all that time?? Just what the hell is going on here? What do these guys want?”

“They want us to join them”, Anna Marie responded. “And if we don’t, they’ll keep us here indefinitely, so we don’t get in the way of their plans”.

“So we’re prisoners?” Hank asked, looking like he was about to throw up.

“It certainly seems that way”, Anne Marie replied sympathetically. “Although, not all of us…”

“What do you mean?” Charles frowned.

“Well… Not everyone is here under duress- some of the mutants arrive voluntarily. There’s a mixture, really- there are captives, like us, but many of the people that are recruited to The Brotherhood also come here to train. They still have full access to their powers, unlike the rest of us, but we all live together”.

“I think it’s meant to be inspiring”, Anna Marie finished ruefully. “I think it’s meant to show us what we could achieve if only we were to join them”.

“And do they? Do people join them, I mean?” Charles asked.

“Yes, many of them do. I think it gets to you after a while- being stuck here with no access to your powers. So many people give in just because they can’t cope with being cut off from their abilities any longer”.

“How have you managed to hold out for so long?” Charles wondered.

Anna Marie looked down at her hands. “Not all of us are completely comfortable with the nature of our mutation”, she said softly.

Charles regarded Anna Marie quietly, wanting to know more about her abilities but realising it wouldn’t be kind to ask. His thoughts wandered to his own powers- missing his telepathy fiercely, and the answers he knew it could give.

“Have you been here the longest then, out of everyone?” Hank asked at last.

Anna Marie smiled. “Not by a long shot. There’s a friend of mine- he’s been here since the camp opened. He’s seen it all”.

Charles’ curiosity was piqued. “Can we meet him?”

 

 

 

A short while later, Charles and Hank were following Anna Marie through the woods as they headed off to meet her friend.

There had been an orientation, of sorts, beforehand- Anna Marie had walked Charles and Hank around the cabin, explaining that this would be their home for the foreseeable future, showing them the supply of clothes that had been prepared for them- the same uniform of white t-shirts and grey jeans that Anna Marie was wearing, with black jackets available for the colder weather and also a few sets of pyjamas. There was a shower and toilet block nearby for them to use, as well as a cafeteria, communal sports hall, and rec room for the mutants to socialise in. Charles found himself thinking about how pleasant it all was, for a prison…

Charles saw other mutants as he followed Anna Marie along the gravel pathway- watching them carefully to see who was wearing a silver cuff and who was wearing a black one. It was like trying to figure out who could be trusted in such an uncertain situation, and Charles was half-encouraged and half-disheartened to notice that the number of ‘prisoners’ seemed to outweigh the number of ‘trainees’ by some degree.

Anna Marie came to a halt at a small secluded cabin, set way back from the other buildings. It was more of a shed than a cabin, really- much smaller than the rest and with no visible windows on the outside, just a single door. Anna Marie knocked once and, after hearing a low grunt from inside the building, opened the door and stepped inside.

A single bed adorned the back wall of the shack, and at the front there was a small woodburning stove with an armchair in front of it, in which sat a gruff looking man who was busy poking at the fire with a large stick. The man looked up as they entered- his expression turning into a frown as Charles and Hank followed Anna Marie into the small room. Charles glanced down to the man’s wrist- not finding a black metal cuff like he expected, instead seeing what looked a bit like knuckle-dusters on each of the man’s hands- metal bars fitted in-between each of his fingers that stretched across the top of his knuckles. It didn’t look particularly comfortable, which led Charles to believe the adornments weren’t exactly an elected fashion choice.

“You got a problem, bub?” the man asked bluntly, watching Charles.

Immediately Charles felt embarrassed for staring; meeting the man’s eyes with an apologetic smile.

“Logan, this is Charles and Hank”, Anna Marie explained, gesturing to them both. “They just arrived, and they wanted to meet you to find out more about how things operate around here”.

Logan huffed out a breath. “If you want the grand tour, you’re in the wrong place”, he replied derisively. “I ain’t about to hold your hand and walk you through this mess”.

Anna Marie stepped closer to Logan and reached out a hand to squeeze him lightly on the upper arm. “Hey, come on…” she said encouragingly, “You know how hard it is to be dumped in this place, stripped of your powers. Just tell them what you know”.

Logan’s face lost some of its hard edges as he looked up at Anna Marie, before he huffed out another breath and reached into his pocket to retrieve a cigar. Lighting it, he moved the cigar to his lips and inhaled deeply- leaning back in his chair before he started to speak.

Anna Marie wasn’t exaggerating when she’d said Logan had been here since the beginning. Logan was the first prisoner at the camp- back when it had first been created two years ago.

He’d been jumped by The Brotherhood whilst working in Alaska- Magneto had noticed Logan after he’d gotten into a bar fight and shown off his mutation; reaching his long metal claws forward to defend himself. After he refused to join The Brotherhood, Magneto had overpowered Logan- not a difficult task considering he had control over the metal that ran through Logan’s entire body. Logan had awoken to find himself trapped in The Brotherhood’s makeshift prison with his claws constrained by adamantium restraints.

Over the next several months Logan had watched as more and mutants came to the camp; some- recruits who had come to train, many others- prisoners who had been captured by The Brotherhood. The suppressant hadn’t been used to contain anyone’s powers to begin with- The Brotherhood had initially relied on more aggressive methods to ensure compliance... Still, as time went on Logan saw more and more captives give in to the cause- agreeing to join the Brotherhood, in return for their ‘freedom’, more or less. Although, not all of them were entirely honest in their intentions- many pledged themselves to The Brotherhood, only to turn on them as soon as they had the chance. Very few survived such a betrayal... Magneto and Mystique were incredibly powerful, and surrounded by loyal followers. Any attempt at dissent was swiftly crushed by The Brotherhood, and the majority of deserters were killed.

But not everyone suffered the same fate… Logan, too, had lied to The Brotherhood. After living at the camp a few weeks he had sworn allegiance to them, only to fight back as soon as he’d had ample opportunity to unleash his claws. He’d injured Mystique- slashing into her once, leaving a row of scars across her stomach that remained on her true form to this day. After that he’d made a break for the exit, cutting through any mutants who’d tried to stop him. Eventually, he’d reached the way out- a massive metal gate placed among the vast walls that surrounded the compound. Logan had just reached the wall when he felt his whole body abruptly jolt to a stop- against his control- and he knew that Magneto had found him.

Magneto had looked unimpressed, to say the least, but to Logan’s surprise he seemed to be more disappointed than angry. He’d span Logan around slowly, frowning disapprovingly at him like Logan was a naughty child who had disobeyed him. There was a moment of silence, and then a single wire was pulled from the metal gate and wrapped tightly around Logan’s throat, choking the life out of him.

Charles frowned, listening to Logan tell his story. “But… you’re alive. How did you survive that?” he asked.

Logan smirked briefly back at him. “It’s my mutation”, he explained. “I can regenerate- any damage that happens to my body can be repaired in an instant. Which means, I can’t die. At least not in any way that I’ve discovered yet- and believe me, I’ve experienced a few…”

Charles was impressed. In his lifetime he’d met numerous mutants- both socially and as part of his research- and they’d all had fantastic abilities, but having the power to regenerate? That was seriously remarkable.

“So what happened next?” Charles asked.

“Well, after that dick Magneto realised he couldn’t kill me, I don’t think he knew what to do with me”, Logan continued. “He couldn’t make me obey, he couldn’t destroy me- and believe me, he did give it a go on a couple of occasions. I lived through him crushing the metal on my bones- feeling them crack under the pressure, only to end up whole again afterwards. After that, he just put the restraints back on and left me alone, and I’ve been here ever since. I found my own little space in this fucked-up community, and just tried to keep to myself”.

“It’s for the best, really. I don’t play well with others”, Logan finished, looking at Charles and Hank pointedly.

Charles bit his lip, letting what Logan had told him sink in, feeling more and more hopeless each second before a sudden thought occurred to him.

“But what about the cuffs?” Charles asked. “How do they work? And why haven’t they put one on you?”

Logan huffed out a short noise that almost could have been a laugh. “Those wonderful little inventions didn’t come about until much later. It’s a drug they’re using on you- it seeps into your skin from the cuff at regular intervals and kills your abilities. As long as it’s on you, you’re powerless- and even if it’s taken off, it takes hours for your mutation to become useable again”.

“Well, if it stops your abilities why didn’t Magneto just put a cuff on you- or inject you with the drug or whatever- and then kill you? How come you’re still alive?”

“I’ve been asking myself that every day”, Logan smiled thinly. “I even asked him once. He just said I was a survivor, like him- whatever that means. I guess he’s right, that’s what I do- survive, stuck in this shithole for the rest of eternity…”

“So you’re saying… there’s no escape”, Charles murmured, staring at the ground.

“None that I’ve found, bub”, Logan replied, leaning back in his chair and raising his feet to rest on a nearby footstool.

“Great”, Charles muttered. “So just what the hell do we do now?”

“We survive”, Anna Marie declared.

 

 

 

Surviving, as it turned out, happened to be surprisingly easy. Not much was required of Charles and Hank at the camp- their only obligation was four hours a day spent helping with The Brotherhood’s propaganda machine. All of the mutants worked in shifts- sat at tables in a large hall making leaflets and posters and badges- all of which advertised The Brotherhood’s supreme power and majesty; explaining how they planned to shape the world in their own design. It made Charles feel sick- helping to spread The Brotherhood’s warped message- but everything was so uncertain right now, he decided to just keep his head down and comply for a little while, at least until he figured out a plan.

When their shift at the assembly hall was over, Charles and Hank took time to wander around the camp’s grounds- scoping out their surroundings. There were mutants everywhere, and Charles was unsurprised to realise that they mainly hung out in clusters- the trainees and the prisoners keeping mostly separate. Those recruited to The Brotherhood’s cause spent most of their time working to hone their powers- brazenly showing off their abilities as they practised, often with prisoners watching in abject jealousy.

Charles and Hank travelled the full perimeter of the camp that first day- walking parallel to the huge metal walls that kept them captive. Charles hoped that they would see some sort of weakness- a sign that they may be able to escape, but there was nothing. The walls were vast and impenetrable, and guards were dotted along the top- looking down at them from raised platforms.

Eventually the sun began to set, so Charles and Hank returned to their new home- finding Anna Marie already in the cabin waiting for them. All three of them bedded down for the night, but Charles soon found that he couldn’t sleep. His mind whirred, as it always did, thinking about the situation he and Hank found themselves in and how it was all his own stupid fault…

Charles pulled at the metal cuff on his wrist as he lay in bed, scratching at the skin either side of it, trying to move the cuff so that he could reach underneath. He made some progress- managing to wiggle a single fingertip under, feeling the row of rough spikes that covered the inside of the cuff. He removed his finger to find the surface covered with a wet, gel-like substance; an eerie green colour that glowed in the moonlight that filtered in through the windows. Then, there was a sharp pull on the cuff that yanked Charles’ hand away from him.

He jolted upright in bed- heart racing and eyes searching for an unwelcome presence in the room, but finding none. But then he looked behind him to the window above his bed, seeing the shadow of a figure standing there for only a moment, before both the figure and the pressure on the cuff were gone, allowing Charles’ hand to drop back into his lap.

 

 

 

Charles awoke the next morning, unable to remember exactly at which point in the night he’d fallen asleep. He’d laid awake for ages- tossing and turning in bed, feeling scared and guilty and worried, but he was exhausted, so eventually he supposed sleep had taken over.

Charles rose from bed not exactly feeling rested… He still felt shattered, and he couldn’t help yawning as he climbed out of bed and began to get dressed. After spending some time at the nearby cafeteria having breakfast, Charles and Hank had headed over to the assembly hall to begin their shift unwillingly helping with The Brotherhood’s propaganda efforts. Upon arrival, however, they were stopped by a man who was leaning on the wall next to the door, waiting for them. Hank entered the hall without incident, but as Charles prepared to pass over the threshold the man blocked his way with a large staff, looking over at Charles with burning red eyes.

“Not so fast. The boss wants a word with you”, the man said, speaking with a thick accent.

Charles opened his mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. He wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect at seeing Mystique or Magneto again, but he was so completely in the dark right now- any new information he could gather might prove to be extremely invaluable.

And so, after reassuring Hank he would be okay, Charles followed. The man with the red eyes led the way- talking aimlessly as he directed Charles across the camp, mostly speaking about himself in the third person. Eventually they arrived at the entrance to, what Charles recognised as, the same cabin he’d woken up in the previous day. Charles looked at his escort in expectation- waiting for him to explain what they were doing there, but the man just grinned at him and gestured for Charles to enter. When Charles hesitated the man smiled again, lifting his hand and conjuring up a twirl of purple energy that he abruptly flicked at Charles, making Charles let out a small yelp as he fell forward through the door.

Charles found his feet as he stumbled into the room, standing upright as he observed the scene before him. Magneto was sat behind the desk, watching Charles expectantly. He gestured with his hand and the chair on the other side of the desk slid out with a creak, Magneto’s eyes remaining fixed on Charles as he waited for him to move. When he didn’t, Magneto sighed deeply.

“Please take a seat”, he requested.

Charles still didn’t move- knowing it was stupid to try and piss off this man who was essentially his prison guard, but at the same time not wanting to lift one finger to assist him. Charles folded his arms, staring at Magneto coldly.

“Fuck off”, Charles replied.

There was a flicker of anger that swept across Magneto’s face and then the chair jerked further out- sliding harshly across the floor and slamming into Charles, cracking him in both knees. Charles cried out in pain, crumpling over the chair and holding onto the back of it as he winced. The jolt of pain subsided- turning into a low throb as Charles lifted his head to glare at Magneto.

“I don’t want to hurt you”, Magneto said, which only made Charles give out a bitter laugh that he regretted slightly as he registered the anger that rose again in Magneto’s face.

“I don’t want to hurt you…” Magneto said again through gritted teeth, “But if you make things difficult for me I might not see another option”.

Charles continued to lean over the chair, breathing rapidly and staring hard at Magneto. Eventually though, Charles’ need for survival overruled his sense of pride, and he moved to drag the chair back over towards the desk, lowering himself down onto it slowly and folding his arms.

“So… what do you want, Megatron- or whatever it is that you call yourself?” Charles jeered.

Magneto rolled his eyes slightly, looking more irritated than flat-out furious, for once.

“It’s Magneto”, he replied. “But if that’s too difficult for you, please- call me Erik”.

“On first-name terms, are we now? How very cosy”.

“Well, it seems only fair. I already know so much about you, Charles Francis Xavier, you should at least know my real name”.

Charles’ eyebrows came together in a frown. “What do you mean? What do you know about me?” he asked.

“Everything”, Erik replied. “I’m very familiar with your work- I’ve read the papers you’ve had published. I saw your presentation on mutant evolution- you were very good; very commanding and professional, but still cute”. Erik looked Charles up and down, which made Charles feel distinctly nervous.

“I recognised you instantly at the rally”, Erik continued. “Normally the idea of you coming to hear me talk would have made me very happy, but when Mystique was corrupted and I saw you in the crowd, I suspected immediately that you had done it”.

Erik’s gaze dropped down to his hands that were resting on the table in front of him. “It’s such a shame…” Erik resumed. “I had once thought that you and I could become great allies, and friends…”

Charles laughed abruptly, a hysterical sound that felt obscenely loud in the quiet room. Erik’s gaze flicked back up to him- intense eyes focusing on Charles fiercely.

“I’m- I’m sorry…” Charles spluttered, still laughing, “But you’re clearly insane. You honestly think we could be friends??”

Erik’s jaw was set tight as he regarded Charles. “Is that really such a crazy notion?” he muttered.

Charles leaned close over the desk, staring at Erik hard in the eyes. “You’re a fanatic. A cult leader. A murderer”, he said purposefully.

“Perhaps you would not think of me so harshly if you got to know me better”, Erik replied evenly.

Charles could only laugh again in response, looking at Erik derisively. “I don’t want to get to know you better”, he sneered.

The words had barely left Charles' lips before Erik slammed both fists down on the desk, causing Charles to jump in his chair. He felt the metal arms of the chair beneath him begin to shake, he felt the metal cuff on his wrist begin to hum. Charles’ eyes were locked with Erik’s, watching him in mild horror- recoiling at the composed but deadly expression on his face.

Suddenly, Charles felt like an idiot. This man was holding him captive. He clearly wanted Charles’ attention, for whatever reason, and instead of humouring the guy Charles was goading him. Once again his ego was leading him down a dangerous path, only this time he didn’t have his telepathy to defend himself, and making the wrong move in this instance could ultimately mean certain death.

“I’m sorry”, Charles said quietly, looking at Erik with wide eyes. “I didn’t mean to… hurt your feelings. It’s just… this is a very difficult situation. It’s hard to imagine being friends with someone who is holding you against your will”.

Erik’s expression visibly mellowed, his fists unclenching where they rested on the table and the metal in the room beginning to stop shaking.

“I understand”, Erik replied softly. “Believe me, I wish we had met under better circumstances. I wish I had spoken to you before, when I saw you at your presentation”.

“Well, why didn’t you?” Charles asked, biting his lip.

Erik scratched his jaw, looking uncomfortable and oddly shy. “I suppose… I was intimidated by you”.

Charles let out a quick laugh that he immediately cut short, not wanting to anger Erik again. It was funny, though- the idea that the charismatic and imperial Magneto could be intimidated by him- Charles Xavier. Magneto was the leader of hundreds of people. He commanded respect and fear wherever he went. Why on earth would he be daunted by speaking to a simple professor?

“You don’t understand the power that you have, do you?” Erik said softly, looking at Charles with a curious expression.

Charles could only gaze back at him in confusion, mouth slightly parted. This whole encounter was going an entirely different way than Charles had envisioned, and he found himself feeling more imbalanced now than at any point during the past two days. He ached desperately for his telepathy; hating not being able to just dip into other people’s surface thoughts to get a sense of what they were thinking.

“Why did you summon me here?” Charles asked eventually.

Erik continued to stare at Charles for a long moment, before he replied: “I was hoping you might help me”.

Charles successfully managed to contain his laughter this time, but not the smirk that spread across his lips.

“I know, I know”, Erik said, leaning back in his chair, “I’m sure the last thing you want to do is help me, but if it’s easier- think of it as assisting your fellow mutant, rather than myself”.

“What exactly is it that you want me to do?”

“I know you’re incredibly smart- like I said, I’ve read your work. I had hoped you would be willing to work with some of the mutants here- to help them develop their powers. There’s a few recruits that are a little… hard to handle. They need guidance- and I’d like you to be the one to give it to them”.

“And why would I do this for you?” Charles asked carefully.

Erik sighed. “Like I said, I’m sure you won’t want to do it for me, but perhaps you’ll do it for them. And besides, you could continue your research into evolution. And you wouldn’t have to spend four hours a day making badges”, Erik added, smiling wryly.

Charles hesitated for a moment before responding: “I’d need an assistant- my friend Hank, he’s a scientist too. He can help”.

“Fine, whatever you need, Charles”.

Charles paused thoughtfully, staring down at the table. “I don’t suppose… you’d let me have my powers back”, he said quietly.

Charles lifted his gaze to look at Erik, finding him staring back with an expression that Charles could almost interpret as regret on his face.

“I wish I could”, Erik replied softly. “But you know I can’t take that risk. I can only imagine how powerful you are- I saw a small glimpse of it when you briefly touched my mind at the rally. I’m sorry, Charles, but the cuff stays on”.

Charles was disappointed, even though he’d already assumed his attempts to get his telepathy back would be futile. Still, he didn’t expect Erik to be quite so remorseful about the whole thing, and he found himself lost in thought for a moment- jumping when Erik reached his fingertips out to gently brush against the back of Charles’ hand.

He looked over at Erik questioningly, but before he had a chance to say anything Erik stood abruptly and began to walk over towards the door.

“Come on, let me show you where you’ll be working...”


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

Charles had experienced more than a few close calls during his lifetime. It was probably to be expected, given that he had often actively sought out powerful mutants and some of them had a tendency to be a little bit… _volatile_. Still, every time in the past when their abilities had gotten a little bit out of control, Charles at least had his telepathy to rely on to bring things back into order.

He didn’t like doing it, necessarily- if fact he abhorred using his power on other mutants point blank- but sometimes it was required in order to save himself from injury, or even death.

At the camp, however, Charles had no powers. Cut off from his telepathy, he was defenceless. And so, that was probably why it was actually an insanely foolish idea to ask someone with the ability to create plasma blasts to show off their mutation in a confined room.

The first time Charles had asked Alex to display his mutation he’d not known what to expect- he’d met people who could create energy in various forms before, but that had always been a rather more contained affair- a little frightening, perhaps- for your average civilian- but nothing that Charles couldn’t handle. Alex’s ability, however, proved to be rather more… _erratic_. He’d protested that it was a bad idea to do this inside the cabin where Charles and Hank had started to conduct their research, but Charles hadn’t listened.

The flames that risen from the cabin after Alex had unleashed his power could be seen for miles around.

It was a wreck- the cabin was completely burnt down by the time someone put out the fire, and Mystique was not happy… She’d glared at Charles and Hank furiously, looking like she wanted to kick one or both of them in the face. Magneto, however, was apparently able to see the funny side. He watched the scene with his arms folded, a barely contained grin on his face as he watched Mystique freak out about the mess Charles and Hank had created. Then he’d walked over to Charles and clapped him firmly on the back, squeezing Charles’ shoulder as he looked down at him.

“Perhaps… you require more specialist accommodation”, Erik said, smiling.

 

 

 

A few days later Charles and Hank were all settled in to their new ‘lab’, of sorts- a disused aircraft hangar at the edge of the camp grounds that they’d fitted out with tables and computers and lab equipment. By this point Charles had spent a few more sessions with Alex- down at the lake in the early hours of the morning when it was relatively secluded. Things went slightly better on those occasions- the only victim of Alex’s powers was a large oak tree that came crashing down into the water when Alex’s blasts ripped through it. Charles and Alex retreated pretty swiftly after that- deciding not to tell anyone what they’d done; just leaving the fallen tree for someone to find later. Honesty was probably not the best policy, in this instance.

Whilst Charles and Alex had been practising by the lake, Hank had been working in the lab- creating a prototype outfit for Alex to wear with a large dial in the centre of the chest. The idea was that the sensors on the dial would focus Alex’s energy- enabling him to direct his plasma blasts more accurately. It was a good theory, but it didn’t exactly work out as planned…

Charles had directed Alex to stand down the far end of the hangar whilst he stood on the opposite side next to a target. It was perhaps a tad foolhardy, but Charles had faith in Alex- and so he encouraged him to fire his blasts right at the target whilst he stood nearby, willing Alex on.

Charles may have had faith, but what he didn’t count on was the prototype dial malfunctioning. The first blast landed as Charles had predicted it would- obliterating the target, and only the target, but then there was a strange crackling sound, and suddenly energy burst out of the side of the dial on Alex’s chest- heading straight at Charles. Charles reacted as quickly as he could- turning away and launching himself to the ground in an attempt to avoid the surge of energy, but knowing it was probably in vain when he felt the heat of the blast reach him. He slammed down on his stomach, bracing himself for the surely awful pain that he knew would follow, but… there was nothing.

Charles rolled over onto his back gingerly, cracking open his eyes slowly to regard the metal door of the hangar that hovered over him. The door remained suspended in the air for a moment, before moving away with a creaking groan and crashing to the floor, revealing Magneto stood in the doorway with his hands outstretched. He dropped his arms and sauntered over to Charles, whilst Charles propped himself up on his elbows.

“I see training is going well…” Erik smirked.

Charles wasn’t amused. Not only was he embarrassed that his little experiment had gone drastically wrong, but he was beyond humiliated that Erik had been the one to rescue him.

“All experiments are subject to little setbacks”, Charles sulked, staring hotly up at Erik and making no attempt to get up from the ground. Eventually Erik reached forward and seized Charles under both arms, pulling him to his feet.

“I’m not sure I’d call this a _little_ setback”, Erik chuckled when they were both on their feet, before reaching to gently touch Charles’ hair with his fingers. “At least you’re only a bit singed”.

Charles was getting more and more irritated by the second. It wasn’t just the training going wrong and Erik saving him, it was the fact that Erik was here at all. When it was just Hank, himself, and the recruits it was easy to pretend he was in the real world again- just helping young students find their place. As soon as Erik had arrived it only served to remind Charles of what the reality of the situation really was: that he was a prisoner, and that he was helping to train recruits for- what he saw as- a fanatical cult. He was training young men and women who would perhaps ultimately one day use their powers to kill for The Brotherhood’s cause, that is if they didn’t die for it first.

Charles shoved Erik’s hand away, attempting to step back from him before Erik promptly seized him on the wrist.

“Charles…? What’s wrong? You’re not really hurt, are you?” Erik asked, looking a mixture of confused and concerned.

“I’m fine”, Charles huffed, “I’m just wondering what the hell you’re doing here. You’re supposed to be letting me and Hank get on with our research, so I don’t understand why you’re always bursting in and interrupting us”.

Erik paused, his jaw tightening. “My apologies if saving your life has caused some sort of massive inconvenience for you…” he growled- eyes growing fierce.

Charles was treading on thin ice, he knew it, and yet he couldn’t seem to stop.

“Don’t pretend you’re concerned with my welfare”, Charles sneered. “You only care about yourself, that and your piss-poor mutant army”.

Charles regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth- to be honest he probably regretted them even before that, when they were still forming in his mind. But once uttered, Charles couldn’t take them back. And even if he wanted to, a few seconds later and Charles was beginning to think he might not even live to see another day, so regret was kind of beside the point.

Erik moved fast, dragging Charles across the room and pushing him harshly up against the nearest wall- pressing his forearm firmly against Charles’ throat. There was a shout from the other side of the room as Hank protested- starting to move towards them both before Erik effortlessly flung a chair at him with his powers, knocking Hank’s feet out from underneath him. Alex, for his part, looked completely dumbstruck at the unexpected turn of events, but eventually he moved from his frozen state to go tend to Hank.

Meanwhile, Charles was dying. Well, that’s what it felt like- Erik’s arm was crushing down against Charles’ windpipe, causing him to choke and struggle in Erik’s grasp; beating weakly against Erik’s arms with his eyes squeezed tightly shut in pain. Charles quickly realised that Erik was capable of overpowering him completely with his physical strength, so fighting was essentially futile, but that didn’t mean he was just going to give up.

Ceasing to wriggle in Erik’s hold, Charles gripped Erik as firmly as he could muster on the upper arms and cracked open his eyes- looking at Erik with what he hoped was an expression of apology and regret, and maybe just a hint of pleading.

It seemed to be working- Erik’s eyes softened as he stared back at Charles, before gradually the pressure on Charles’ neck began to ease also. Charles eagerly gulped in a breath as soon as he was able; choking and coughing and lolling his head to the side. Erik’s arm remained pressed against Charles’ throat but he wasn’t pushing down anymore, not that it made the situation any less uncomfortable for Charles.

“Charles…” Erik murmured softly. “I don’t want to hurt you. I want you to be happy here, but the more you fight me the harder you make it for yourself. I meant it when I said I hoped we could become friends, and believe me- you’d rather have me as your friend than your enemy”.

Charles gave a short laugh that sounded more like a cough. “Erik…” he replied- his voice horse and strained, “If you’re going to keep begging me to be your bestie I think I’d rather you just kill me now”.

Charles rolled his head back to look back at Erik- his eyes a fierce and defiant electric blue. To his surprise, Charles found that Erik didn’t seem furious, for once, but there was a menacing and almost mischievous look on his face that worried Charles more.

“You really think killing you is the worst thing I could do to you?” Erik said softly, his voice eerily calm. Charles didn’t want to imagine what Erik could be capable of, but it seemed like Erik was determined to give him a little hint.

Erik slid his leg forward, moving it in-between Charles knees and raising it so that his thigh was pressed pointedly against Charles’ crotch. Charles let out an audible whimper, bracing himself for Erik to slam his knee into his groin, or worse, but nothing of the sort happened. Erik continued to stare at Charles, inching closer to him and bracing his other hand against the wall so that Charles was completely trapped by his body, leaving Charles feeling especially vulnerable as Erik began to rub his leg ever so slightly against his crotch. Erik’s face was inches from Charles’, which only made Charles wince and turn his head away- staring heatedly at the back wall of the hangar. He really hoped Hank wasn’t watching this display…

“Charles…” Erik whispered, leaning close to him. “Why do you keep getting yourself into these unfortunate situations? Don’t you realise how much better this could be for you, if only you were nicer to me…”

Charles felt like laughing hysterically, or crying… His captor wanted Charles to be _nice_ to him? What kind of fucked up dynamic was this? Charles wanted nothing more than to headbutt Erik, or kick him, or do _anything_ really but be nice to him. But then Charles heard a groan from the other side of the room- Hank, clearly in pain of some kind- and Charles remembered that it wasn’t just his life at stake here.

Taking as deep of a breath as he could manage, Charles turned his head back so that he met Erik’s eyes. Then, swallowing a large amount of pride, he spoke:

“Okay… you’re right- I’ll try to be nicer”.

Erik seemed mildly surprised, but pleased. He didn’t let go completely, but he removed his forearm from Charles’ throat, moving his hand to rest palm-down against Charles’ collarbone. Erik’s leg moved too- thank God-  his thigh giving up its pressure on Charles’ crotch.

Erik stared down at him for a long moment, his fingers tracing absently along Charles’ collarbone as he regarded Charles’ face, his other arm still against the wall and bracketing Charles in. Charles was still gripping Erik on the upper arms, and he decided to test his luck a little- pushing lightly against Erik’s biceps in an attempt to get him to move away. It worked, and Erik removed his hands from Charles completely- stepping back a few paces as Charles sagged against the wall in relief.

“I’ll leave you to your research, then”, Erik said, his eyes still fixed on Charles. “Try not to have any more ‘setbacks’- I wouldn’t want to have to save your life again”.

And with that, Erik turned and walked briskly out of the hangar.

 

 

 

It had taken quite a while to put the lab back together after Erik’s visit that morning. Charles had sent Alex away- mainly because he couldn’t look him in the eye anymore- and then he and Hank had begun tidy up.

Hank had escaped the events of that morning relatively unscathed- which Charles was extremely grateful for. It seemed likely he would have some impressive bruising on his legs later, but at least nothing was broken.

Charles tried to avoid looking at Hank for the rest of the time they worked, but he could still feel Hank watching him in concern. He didn’t try to ask Charles any questions though, which suited Charles just fine. He felt far too embarrassed by everything that had happened; he didn’t think he could stomach talking about it.

Fortunately though, there were distractions available. By the time the lab had been put back together the sun had set, and Charles and Hank headed off to a gathering by the lake. Charles didn’t exactly feel like socialising, but Anna Marie was expecting them to be there, so it seemed rude to stand her up.

When they arrived there were already many mutants gathered. Charles was surprised to see Logan in attendance- normally he shunned, well, pretty much everyone- but there he was, sitting on one of the logs placed around the campfire, smoking his cigar and drinking from a hipflask.

There was another presence at the gathering that Charles hadn’t foreseen. Sitting beside Anna Marie on the log next to Logan was the mutant who’d escorted Charles to meet Erik on his second day at the camp. It wasn’t really unusual that he was there- after all, a quick scan of the crowd revealed that there was a mixture of prisoners and recruits at the gathering- but what surprised Charles was how friendly the man seemed to be with Anna Marie. He was sat extremely close to her- his hand wrapped around her back as he leaned down to whisper in her ear, and she was smiling broadly.

As Charles and Hank approached the cosy twosome they looked up- Anna Marie greeting them with a small wave as her companion withdrew his arm from her back and started to stand up.

“Wait, you don’t have to go”, Anna Marie said, grabbing the man by the hand.

“It’s okay, chere, I have places to be anyway”, the man replied, leaning down to kiss Anna Marie briefly on the lips. He gave Charles and Hank a quick nod, and then wandered away.

“Who was that?” Charles asked, taking a seat next to Anna Marie and opposite Logan as Hank walked over to a nearby table to get them some drinks.

“That’s Remy… my boyfriend”, Anna Marie replied, smiling shyly.

“He’s a member of The Brotherhood”, Charles stated, rather pointlessly. Clearly Anna Marie knew that.

Anna Marie gave Charles a slightly guilty look. “I know… They’re not all as bad as you think they are”.

“I realise that”, Charles replied, thinking of Alex and some of the others he’d met, “But there’s a difference between being cordial with them and… dating”.

Hank returned with two cups of cider, passing one to Charles and taking a seat next to him.

“I was just being nice at first”, Anna Marie said. “It made sense, you know- be nice to the people holding you hostage in the hope that they’ll treat you better”.

 _“I know…”_ Charles thought, thinking of Erik as he sipped at his cider.

“After a while it developed into something more”, Anna Marie continued. “I know it’s messy and I know it doesn’t make sense, but… he makes me feel safe”.

“And besides…” she added, looking pointedly at Charles, “I don’t think I’m the only one who could stand to gain something by taking advantage of the fondness of our ‘enemies’…”

“Huh?” Charles frowned, “What are you talking about?”

“I’m taking about Magneto. He likes you”.

Charles accidentally inhaled his cider, choking and coughing as he looked at Anna Marie in disbelief.

“What???” he spluttered. “Erik does **not** like me- he’s been an absolute prick to me since the day I got here”.

“I think he’s like that with everyone…” Anna Marie replied wryly, “But he does like you. We’ve all seen the way he looks at you”.

Charles slipped into thought, remembering Erik asking him to be nicer, remembering Erik saying that he wished they could be friends, remembering Erik pressing him up against the wall and rubbing his leg against Charles’ crotch…

“Alright… say he does like me…” Charles said at last, breathing somewhat raggedly and staring hard at the ground. “What do you suggest I do about it?”

“I think a well-timed blowjob couldn’t hurt”, Logan interrupted.

Charles’ head jerked upwards to look at Logan, an outraged expression on his face, but Logan only laughed in return- raising his eyebrows at Charles and puffing on his cigar some more.

“I… am not… doing _that_ ”, Charles muttered through gritted teeth.

“No one’s suggesting anything like that”, Anna Marie interjected, resting a reassuring hand on Charles’ shoulder. “All I’m saying is… just talk to him a little. Show an interest. You never know- it may work out to your advantage in the long run”.

Charles turned to face Hank, waiting to hear his opinion on the matter.

“He did say he wants you to be nicer to him…” Hank replied eventually.

 

 

 

Ten minutes later and Charles was walking away from the campfire and towards Erik. It had taken a while to work up the courage, but after a brief pep talk from Anna Marie and a few swigs from Logan’s hipflask he was ready.

Erik was situated a little way back from the campfire, sitting on the top of a picnic bench and talking to some mutants that Charles didn’t recognise. He looked over in mild surprise as Charles approached, watching as Charles shuffled forward whilst wrapping his arms around himself as he shivered in the cool autumn air. Charles came to a stop in front of Erik and said nothing, just looking over at the other mutants pointedly and waiting. Erik got the hint- he gestured briefly with his hands and the mutants all walked away, leaving Charles and Erik alone.

So, he was here, he was all psyched up and ready to charm Erik, but Charles still couldn’t think of a damn thing to say.

“Charles…?” Erik said at last. “Did you want something?”

“Um… I wanted… to apologise”.

Erik’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “You want to apologise?”

“Yes… for earlier. I thought about what you said and- you’re right. I’ve made this situation harder than it has to be, and I’m sorry”.

Erik stared back at Charles for a long moment, before leaning towards him.

“Charles have you been drinking?”

“Yessss…” Charles replied, rolling his eyes, “But that’s not why I’m here”.

“You’re here to apologise”.

“Right”.

Charles was wobbling slightly where he stood; the alcohol he’d consumed fogging up his brain and making his legs feel weak. Well, maybe it was the booze, or maybe it was the way Erik’s eyes were raking over him.

“I think you could do with getting some rest…” Erik said at last. “Can I walk you to your cabin?”

Charles bit his lip, debating what to do. Sure, he’d planned to come make nice with Erik- even be a little bit friendly towards him- but wandering off into the night with the man? That was another matter entirely.

“Come on”, Erik said, rising to his feet and grasping Charles lightly on the arm, making Charles’ mind up for him.

Charles allowed Erik to lead him from the area, looking over at his friends to see Anna Marie and Hank regarding him with mild concern, whilst Logan grinned and gave Charles a thumbs up.

Charles covertly gave Logan the finger as he walked with Erik into the darkness.

 

 

 

Neither Charles nor Erik said anything for a long time while they walked. Charles had ventured ahead- moving briskly whilst Erik followed closely behind him. All plans for acting buddy-buddy with Erik had gone firmly out of the window; out in the middle of the woods in the pitch black night, all Charles wanted to do was get back to his cabin safely and hide inside.

“Do you have anyone waiting for you back home?” Erik asked suddenly, pulling Charles from thought.

“What?” Charles replied, not bothering to look back at him.

“Do you have anyone who’d be missing you? Family? A partner?”

Charles frowned. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because, if you did, then maybe I could get a message to them. Maybe I could make sure they know that you’re okay”.

Charles slowed his pace at last, waiting for Erik to catch up to him so they could walk side by side.

“Why would you do that?” Charles questioned, looking up at Erik.

Erik scowled and looked away. “What does it matter why? Do you want me to contact anyone or not?”

Charles paused, gazing up at Erik in mild curiosity. Eventually, Erik looked back over to Charles- raising his eyebrows expectantly.

“No… there’s no one”, Charles said eventually.

“No one?” Erik asked.

“No… My parents have been dead for a while now. Other than that I’ve got a step-brother somewhere but he doesn’t like me very much, so he certainly wouldn’t be missing me…”

“What about… a partner?”

“No”.

Erik gave a short laugh, which made Charles screw up his face in confusion and annoyance.

“What’s so funny about that?” Charles frowned.

Erik glanced over at Charles, looking slightly guilty. “I have a confession to make…”

“What is it?”

“When I said I’d watched you talk at your presentation… That wasn’t the only time I’d seen you before”.

“Huh??”

Erik grinned slightly. “I followed you afterwards. You went to a bar with some friends for a few drinks. Well, several drinks…” he said, looking pointedly at Charles.

“I saw you at that bar a few more times”, Erik continued. “You were… very popular. I saw you leave with a different person each night. So, I’m just a little surprised, is all, that you’re single”.

Charles stopped abruptly, turning to glare up at Erik.

“Why do you care so much if I have a bloody girlfriend or not?”

Erik smirked again. “I didn’t say _girlfriend_ … As I recall, you were subject to attention from people of all genders, and you didn’t seem to mind one bit”.

“And besides…” Erik added, moving closer to Charles and grinning wickedly down at him, “With a pretty mouth like that, I can only imagine how good you are at sucking cock”.

 

Charles slapped him.

Oh, this was it. This really was the stupid decision to end all stupid decisions.

It was a reflex really- Charles was just so incensed that Erik had said that; that Erik had been _thinking_ that- he’d reacted before he could really process what he was actually doing. It’s not like what Erik had said was even untrue, but that didn’t make it any less offensive.

There was the sound of Charles’ palm hitting Erik’s face cracking loudly in the air; Erik’s head spinning to the side with the impact, and then silence. Erik began to turn his head back around and Charles could already see the fury in his face, and that was it. Charles turned and ran- sprinting off into the darkness of the woods as fast as he possibly could. He didn’t expect to get far- he was bracing himself the whole time for the familiar yank of Erik using his powers to pull at the metal cuff around his wrist, but it never came.

Charles ran frantically though the trees, the sound of his laboured breathing and leaves crunching underfoot filling the air. He didn’t know where the fuck he was going- there was nowhere to go really- he only knew that he had to at least try and get away from Erik, otherwise who knew what the hell might happen to him.

It was hard to see in the darkness and Charles stumbled often, but eventually he reached a small clearing- moonlight flooding down through the gap in the trees.

He was halfway through the clearing when there was a noise off to the side and a force tackled him.

Charles was slammed to the ground, crying out as someone crashed down on top of him. He thrashed frantically, kicking behind him at the figure and attempting to crawl away on his stomach, but it was no use.

Erik was too quick- grabbing Charles by the ankles and pulling him closer, rolling Charles onto his back before climbing on top of him- straddling Charles and using his weight to pin Charles’ lower body down. Charles lashed out with his hands, not really trying to punch Erik but at least trying to push him away, but Erik simply grabbed Charles’ wrists and pinned them firmly above his head. Charles whined in protest, wriggling under Erik and trying to squirm away, but Erik was too strong and every movement from Charles only made Erik come closer- so close that Charles could start to feel Erik’s cock hardening where it was pressed against him.

It seemed like a good idea to cease struggling, so Charles stopped- lying still but breathing hard, his head turned off to the side away from Erik. Erik didn’t say anything, but Charles could feel his eyes on him, and he had a feeling that if he looked at Erik’s face anger wouldn’t be the emotion he could see anymore.

Erik adjusted his position- gripping both of Charles’ wrists with one hand only, using the other hand to gently brush Charles’ hair off his forehead. His fingers remained on Charles’ face for while- tracing over the skin above his eyebrow and trailing down the side of his face and jaw. Charles bit his lip and tried not to whimper as Erik’s fingers started to caress his neck, which was hard considering he was an extremely tactile person and he normally liked nothing more than the feeling of another person gently touching his skin.

This was an entirely different situation however- Charles felt like he was still very much in danger so he couldn’t allow himself to enjoy Erik’s touch, no matter how strangely good it felt. Apparently though, his cock didn’t get the memo- and Charles was mortified to feel it start to perk up slightly in interest.

Erik’s hand moved along Charles’ collarbone before he used his powers to slowly pull at the zipper of Charles’ jacket. His fingers followed the zip down; palm gracing Charles’ chest and stomach over his t-shirt before eventually his fingers slid under the shirt at the bottom.

Charles was really fighting not to moan now, biting hard on his lip and squirming as Erik’s fingers traced his lower ribs; his thumb rolling languidly over Charles’ stomach. It was a vulnerability Charles had never felt before in his life. He felt like he’d been cast adrift without his powers, and he couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that he might want to stop this soon- not knowing if Erik would let him but being certain that, if that were the case, it was unlikely he would be able to do anything about it anyway.

Erik’s fingers changed direction- moving from Charles’ ribs and pointing down as they trailed across his stomach and slowly began to creep under the edge of Charles’ jeans towards his crotch.

“Stop”, Charles huffed out suddenly, turning his head to look at Erik at last.

Erik’s eyes flashed back up to Charles- regarding his face quietly with his hand frozen on Charles’ lower stomach. A few seconds later he removed his hand from Charles’ waist and placed it on the ground next to Charles’ side, but didn’t retreat further- just staring into Charles’ eyes intently whilst Charles lay beneath him, breathing heavily.

After what felt like a decade of silence, Erik abruptly let go of Charles- unpinning his wrists and lifting off of Charles’ body as he stood up. Charles was far less ready to move- remaining on the ground just staring up at the stars for a while before Erik reached down and slid his hands underneath Charles’ arms, pulling him to his feet.

Once upright Charles felt a little bit more stable; pushing against Erik’s chest gently and stepping away from him, wandering off aimlessly before Erik grabbed him by the arm and directed him towards the path. Erik allowed Charles to walk ahead once again, following him faithfully along the path until they finally reached Charles’ cabin.

Charles was about to walk up the steps and into the cabin before Erik took hold of his hand and stopped him. He pulled Charles back to him, transferring his grip to hold Charles on the arms with both hands as he looked down at him and Charles avoided his gaze.

“So… I guess a goodnight kiss is out of the question?”

Charles' eyes snapped upwards, finding Erik smiling down at him. Charles was frozen- knowing he couldn’t bring himself to kiss Erik- that he didn’t necessarily want to at that moment in time- but also knowing that if Erik tried it he wasn’t going to stop him.

Fortunately, Erik didn’t try it. Not fully anyway. Leaning closer to Charles, he tilted his head down and pressed a simple kiss to Charles’ cheek, before stepping away from him.

“Get some rest, Charles”, Erik called as he wandered down the path away from the cabin.

Charles felt like he could sleep for ten fucking years and it wouldn’t be enough rest.


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

When Charles awoke he was surprised to find Anna Marie staring down at him.

“Well, what happened?” she demanded, grinning impishly.

Charles groaned and pulled a pillow over his face. “Leave me aloneeeeee”, he grumbled.

“Oh come on!” Anna Marie protested. “We spent all evening speculating about what you were up to- and believe me, Logan had some very lurid ideas...”

Charles thought back to last night- remembering Erik chasing him through the woods, pinning him to the ground, straddling him and caressing his skin... Lurid probably about covered it.

Charles removed the pillow from his face, tilting his head to look at Anna Marie who was sat on the side of his bed. “Whatever you’re imagining, I doubt the reality is actually more exciting”, Charles said, smiling slightly.

“Well I’d like to be the judge of that. Tell us over breakfast?” Anna Marie suggested.

 

 

 

A short while later Charles had showered and changed before heading to the cafeteria with Anna Marie and Hank. Charles was somewhat relieved to find that Logan hadn’t joined them this morning- he didn’t think he could handle Logan making any more lewd suggestions, though from the looks on Anna Marie and Hank’s faces it was clear that they were already imagining all sorts of obscene things.

“Nothing happened”, Charles said at last, poking at his breakfast with his fork.

“Oh”, Hank said, looking somewhat relieved. “When we got back your clothes were on the floor, covered in dirt. We thought… Well, we didn’t really know what to think”.

“I fell”, Charles lied. “It was pretty dark on the way back and I tripped over some rocks, that’s all”.

“So Magneto didn’t roughly take you in the woods?” a voice interrupted.

_“Fucking Logan…”_ Charles thought.

Charles scowled as Logan took a seat on the bench opposite him next to Anna Marie, grinning with a cigar poking out of his mouth.

“I thought you didn’t like to socialise with others?” Charles asked pointedly.

“Well, normally I don’t, but I just knew that you girls would be here dishing the gossip on last night’s activities, and I couldn’t resist”, Logan replied, reaching over to steal food off of Charles’ plate.

Charles pushed the plate away towards him, suddenly not hungry.

“Ah, come on Charles- why so bashful? Our fearless leader taking a shine to you can only be a good thing, right?” Logan smirked. “I say, give him what he wants, and take what you can”.

“That’s easy for you to say, no one’s trying to fuck you”.

“Oh, so he tried to fuck you, did he?” Logan asked, leaning closer and raising his eyebrows.

Charles felt a fierce blush crawl over his cheeks as he regretted what he’d said fiercely.

“Come on, Logan, leave him alone”, Anna Marie interjected, before looking over to Charles sympathetically. “It’s okay, Charles- you don’t have to tell us anything. As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters”, she said, smiling softly.

Charles felt like he was pretty damn far from okay.

 

 

 

For the rest of their time in the cafeteria Logan didn’t have any further bawdy comments to add, which made Charles very happy. With a plate of food in front of him Logan seemed to be much more interested in eating than talking, although he did spare some time to get into an argument with a few other mutants- for reasons that Charles couldn’t quite follow.

Once everyone had finished eating and Logan had finished hurling insults, the four of them got up from their table and moved towards the exit of the cafeteria, though they were stopped on the way.

Remy entered the room just as the group were reaching the door, and immediately Anna Marie walked forward to greet him- embracing him with a quick hug.

“Nice to see you too”, Remy said, smiling down at her, “But I’m not here for you, chere, I’m here for him”, he continued- looking over at Charles.

_“Oh great, what now…”_ Charles thought, feeling like he already knew the answer.

“The boss wants to see you tonight”, Remy explained.

Charles huffed out a noise of disgust, glaring over at Remy.

“Hey, don’t get mad at me”, Remy protested, holding up his hands and grinning. “Gambit’s only the messenger, man. You’ve got the rest of the day to yourself, but then Magneto wants you to be at his cabin for nine o’clock”.

“I don’t even know where his cabin is…” Charles muttered.

Remy grinned again, his red eyes flashing as he reached into his pocket and retrieved a folded up piece of paper, handing it to Charles. “That’s okay, he provided a map”.

“Awwwwww he drew you a little map!” Logan cooed, before Anna Marie promptly elbowed him in the ribs.

Charles scowled and snatched the paper from Remy’s hand, unfolding the page and looking down at it. It was a printout of the camp grounds with directions drawn on for how to get from Charles’ cabin to Erik’s. Charles tried not to smile as he noticed the little loveheart Erik had drawn to signify which cabin was his.

_“Erik is not cute…”_ Charles reminded himself, _“Erik is annoying and terrifying”._

“And what happens if I don’t go?” Charles asked, screwing up the map and shoving it in his pocket.

“I think only you know the answer to that”, Remy smirked, “But believe me- that’s not a man I would want to piss off”.

 

 

 

Charles wasn’t afraid of pissing Erik off- that’s what he told himself for the rest of the day as he and Hank worked in the lab.

Alex was back with them today; Hank had spent the morning working on repairing the prototype outfit, and by the afternoon it was finished so Alex joined them to test it out. After yesterday’s calamity Charles felt inclined to be a little bit more careful than before, so he and Hank wisely stepped outside as Alex aimed at the target. They heard the sound of a blast followed by laughter and cheering, and when they re-entered the hangar Alex was grinning brightly, the target in tatters on the other side of the room.

They carried on testing Alex’s aim for the rest of the day. Alex didn’t want to stop- he told Charles that it was the first time in his life when he felt like he had some control over his powers, which made Charles smile fondly. In spite of how and why Charles had ended up at the camp, he at least was able to find some happiness in the fact that he’d been able to help Alex to feel good about his mutation.

As the sun began to set Charles and Hank said goodbye to Alex and headed towards their cabin. Charles walked along the path in silence whilst Hank rambled on about the successes of the day, not noticing that Charles was barely listening.

Charles couldn’t help thinking about Erik. He was supposed to be at Erik’s cabin in a few hours, yet he still hadn’t decided whether he was actually going to go or not. What would happen if he decided not to? Would Erik come looking for him, or would he just stay at his cabin all pissed off and then take it out on Charles the next time he saw him? Charles’ thoughts wandered, thinking of the things Erik could do to him if he disobeyed. He already knew that Erik was prone to violence when he was mad, but for some reason the possibilities that ran though Charles’ mind were all distinctly more sexual in nature...

“Charles, are you okay? You’re breathing kind of heavily....”

They were back at the cabin, and Hank was looking over at Charles in concern, a book laid open in his lap. Charles was lying down on his bed and staring at the ceiling, still thinking about Erik, and apparently making a show of himself.

“I’m fine”, Charles muttered, sitting up on the bed.

“You’re thinking about Magneto, aren’t you? About what he wants from you?”

Charles screwed up his face. “Is it that obvious?”

“Well yeah, I can tell you’re torturing yourself. Are you worried he’s going to be angry that you didn’t do what he said?” Hank asked, looking at his watch.

Shit. It was 8:57 already- Charles had completely lost track of time whilst he was dwelling in his own thoughts.

It didn’t matter though; he wasn’t going anyway.

 

 

 

At 9:02 Charles found himself briskly walking through the woods in the direction of Erik’s cabin. He had debated with himself for a few minutes before eventually pulling on his jacket and storming outside- telling himself that he was only going to go over to Erik’s to tell him that he wouldn’t be summoned like this; that Erik was sorely mistaken if he thought that Charles was just going to come when he commanded it.

Charles had rehearsed the speech in his head a few times, so he felt pretty ready by the time he heard movement on the path ahead and realised Erik had come looking for him after all.

“I knew that you couldn’t just--- oh...” Charles froze abruptly as he saw two figures come into the light ahead of him.

“Sorry… I thought you were someone else”, Charles said, smiling politely. He recognised the two young men who were walking towards him- they were prisoners too; Charles had seen them around over the past week or so. He vaguely recalled that one of the them was called John, but he didn’t know the other one’s name. He’d heard them talking about their mutations though- one could control fire and the other had spikes that came out of his skin.

“Who were you expecting, your boyfriend?” John sneered.

Charles’ brows drew together in confusion as the two men came to a stop just in front of him, feeling oddly uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“My boyfriend? I don’t know what you’re talking about”.

“He’s talking about Magneto- our psychotic prison guard”, the other man interjected. “Rumour has it you’re his new squeeze”.

“Well you heard wrong…” Charles frowned.

“Oh, I don’t think so”, John replied, smirking. “You see, we heard you this morning- talking with your friends in the cafeteria. We all know you’re sleeping with the enemy”.

“What I’m doing… or not doing… is no business of yours”.

“Ah, now that’s where you’re wrong. You’ve betrayed your fellow prisoners, and I think that makes it very much our business. Now the only question that remains is… just how are we going to punish you…?”

Charles let out a short laugh. “ _You’re_ going to punish _me_? Fuck off. You’re little more than a boy”.

That was, apparently, not the right thing to say. Charles could see the anger rise in the faces of his two opponents, and he knew that things were about to get physical.

Charles despised physical confrontations and yet- with a mouth like his- Charles had a tendency to end up in them more often than he’d like. Of course, in times past he could always rely on his telepathy to get him out of whatever mess he’d talked himself into. This time, however? No such luck.

The two men advanced towards Charles, fists clenched and jaws set tight. Charles considered trying to reason with them for a short moment before he thought- fuck it, he was probably overdue a fight. That sort of mentality was why he felt compelled to lash out as soon as the men were close enough- kicking the unnamed man hard in the groin, feeling a slight smug satisfaction as he groaned and collapsed to the ground. The sense of joy didn’t last though, as John promptly punched Charles in the mouth.

Charles reeled from the impact but recovered quickly- launching himself forward and tackling John around the waist. They both crashed to the ground, punching and kicking at each other as they scuffled. Charles managed to land a few good hits and was feeling pretty good about his first physical confrontation in years, before suddenly he was grabbed around the throat from behind and hauled to his feet.

The other man had Charles in a chokehold- squeezing tight as Charles tried to escape. Struggling frantically, Charles tried his best to get the man to let go, but it wasn’t happening and Charles could do nothing but watch uneasily as John got to his feet and advanced towards him.

“You really shouldn’t have done that…” John declared, wiping blood from his nose as he moved closer to Charles. John cocked his fist back, and Charles closed his eyes as he braced for impact.

The first blow to the stomach knocked the wind out of Charles, causing him to wheeze uncontrollably as he tried to suck in breath. His eyes flew open as he doubled over, looking back up just in time to see John raise his fist again.

Charles braced for impact again, but it didn’t come. Instead, John’s fist flew backwards instead of forwards, twisting his arm painfully and causing him to cry out. There was another shout of pain and then the chokehold on Charles loosened, allowing Charles to fall to his knees, gasping for breath.

Charles looked behind him to see Erik stepping forward from the shadows, his arms outstretched and a menacing expression on his face. He was holding both of the prisoners by the metal cuffs on their wrists, lifting them so that they were suspended in the air inches above the ground. Charles felt like that was a suitable punishment, but apparently Erik had other ideas.

There was a flash through the air- too quick for Charles to comprehend- followed quickly by the sound of choking. Charles whirled around to find a metal chain wrapped around each of the men’s necks, cutting off their air supply, and he could only watch in horror as they trashed.

“Erik, no!” Charles exclaimed, spinning back around to face him. Erik looked determined- hands stretched with fingers splayed wide, his eyes cold and callous, but he flinched at the sound of Charles’ voice- tilting his gaze to look down at him.

“Please, Erik…” Charles begged, “Don’t kill them”.

Erik regarded Charles for a long moment, before eventually dropping his arms and allowing the two men to fall to the ground. Charles barely had time to get out a “Thank you” before Erik walked over to him and pulled him to his feet, wrapping his arm around Charles’ back to support him.

“You try anything like this again- I’ll kill you”, Erik stated, glaring down at the two gasping men, before pulling Charles close and guiding him away.

Charles allowed Erik to direct him through the woods, pain throbbing in his stomach and face. Eventually they reached a cabin where Erik unlocked the door with his powers before pulling Charles inside.

It was nicer than the cabin Charles shared with Hank and Anna Marie, that was for sure. The room was spacious- there was an open fireplace with an armchair and sofa in front of it, various other furnishings such as a desk and wardrobe, and a large double bed at the back of the room just in front of an en-suite bathroom.

The fire was lit and Erik pulled Charles towards it- throwing a cushion on the floor and dropping Charles down onto it, before stalking off towards the bathroom. Charles sat in front of the fire, wincing slightly in pain as he listened to Erik rummage around in the bathroom. Eventually Erik returned with a first aid kit in hand as he walked over and dropped into the armchair next to the fire, beckoning Charles closer.

Charles edged forward across the floor, coming to a stop on his knees just in front of Erik, which apparently wasn’t close enough. Erik reached down and grasped Charles under the arms, pulling him forward so that Charles practically sprawled in Erik’s lap- resting his forearms on Erik’s legs to support himself.

Erik opened the med kit, pulling out a cotton wool pad pouring some sort of liquid onto it before gripping Charles gently by the jaw and bringing the pad to his mouth. Charles scrunched up his face, waiting for the pain, but to his surprise it didn’t hurt that badly. There was a slight sting as Erik brushed the pad against his lower lip, but it was barely significant- and Charles realised this was entirely due to the fact that Erik was being ever so gentle with him.

“You should have let me kill them”, Erik muttered, staring down at Charles’ mouth.

“You think the appropriate punishment for a split-lip and a few bruised ribs is death? Remind me to never introduce you to any of the guys who used to beat me up at school…”

Erik scowled. “They shouldn’t have touched you. Anything could have happened. They could have…” Erik trailed off, jaw tightening.

“Hey, I’m alright…” Charles said softly.

This was a side of Erik he’d never seen before- Erik was taking care of him. Erik was being tender with him. Erik was _worried_ about him.

Charles felt like an idiot, and not for the first time since he’d arrived at the camp. Erik had been saying all along that all Charles had to do was be friendly to him, and Erik would treat him well, but of course instead he’d decided to be sullen and rude instead. Naturally that didn’t excuse how Erik had acted towards him in some of his more violent moments, but it was something for Charles to consider. Just what else would Erik be willing to do for him, if only Charles was prepared to play nice?

Charles’ thoughts drifted to his telepathy as he allowed Erik to clean him up. He missed his powers fiercely- he missed feeling safe, he missed understanding what people were thinking and feeling. Erik’s eyes were trained solely on Charles’ lips as he brushed the cotton pad against the cut. Meanwhile, Charles was thinking about what Logan had suggested last night. He was thinking about what Erik had said to him as well, before his words had been met with a slap.

“You can have it, if you want”, Charles whispered.

Erik’s eyes flicked up to meet Charles’. “Have what?”

“A blowjob”.

Erik stopped cleaning Charles’ cut, dropping one hand to his lap but keeping his other hand on Charles’ jaw. He didn’t say anything though for a long, long time, and Charles was feeling restless.

“What’s wrong? You are interested in me, right?” Charles huffed at last.

“I am…”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“You said if _I_ wanted it, not that you did”.

“So?”

“So, a reluctant blowjob doesn’t exactly sound like my idea of a good time”.

Charles smirked. “I’m sure I could make you believe it was real”.

Erik sunk back into silence again, and his expression was annoyingly unreadable.

“Oh come on, Erik”, Charles said eventually “I don’t see you getting any better offers. What’s the issue?”

“The issue is… if you were to do _that_ , I would want it to be because you wanted to, not just because you were trying to keep me happy”.

Charles let out a loud laugh. This was becoming a bit of a bad habit of his- laughing in the faces of people who could kill him. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, Charles felt compelled to add: “That seems pretty fucking unlikely”.

Erik’s eyes darkened as he dropped his hand from Charles’ face, watching Charles closely.

“So you’re saying… there’s no chance of you being attracted to me, but you’d be willing to whore yourself out as, what- thanks for saving you?”

“I wouldn’t question it, Erik- beggars can’t be choosers”.

Erik reclined back in his chair, eyes fixed unwaveringly on Charles face. Once again, Charles was cursing his inability to keep his thoughts to himself.

“Go on then”, Erik said eventually.

“What?” Charles squeaked.

“If I can’t have you how I want then I’ll take you like this. So go on”, Erik said, opening his legs slightly and gesturing down to his lap.

Charles was feeling a little bit unwell, still leaning on Erik’s legs and looking up at him. His gaze moved down to Erik’s crotch, wondering just what the hell his big mouth had gotten him into this time, although clearly not big enough if the bulge in Erik’s trousers was anything to go by…

Charles dropped back to rest on his legs, looking down and scrunching his hands together in his lap.

“Oh, what’s the point? You’re never going to give me my powers back anyway…” Charles sulked.

Erik raised his eyebrows in surprise. “So that’s what this is about? Your telepathy?”

“Obviously…” Charles muttered.

After a thoughtful pause, Erik said: “Charles, I may not be able to fully give you your abilities back, but there may be… a compromise I can offer”.

Charles tilted his gaze to look up at Erik hopefully. “What do you mean?”

“The drug that’s in the cuff you’re wearing- it’s from a mutant who works for us, and it’s pure. However, we did conduct some experiments with a slightly diluted variant of it… We call it Version B”.

Charles frowned. “What does it do?”

“Version B enables a mutant to have limited access to their powers”.

Charles eyes grew wide, as Erik leaned closer to him.

“If I were… suitably motivated, maybe I would be willing to swap your cuff for one with Version B in it”, Erik murmured, a slight smile playing across his lips as he looked down at Charles.

“But… you said ‘limited access’… What does that mean? Would I get my telepathy back?”

“Honestly, Charles, I’m not entirely sure. As you can imagine there’s not many mutants who would voluntarily give up their abilities, so we only constructed a few trials. In those we tried it on- some found they had diminished access to their powers, like their abilities were just developing and were still weak. In others… it didn’t seem to have much of an effect at all- their powers were still blocked”.

Charles rolled his eyes at Erik. “I’m not sucking your cock for a chance that I _might_ get my telepathy back”.

To his surprise, Erik laughed. “Understandable”, he smiled, “But I wouldn’t worry- the chance of being able to use your abilities under the influence of Version B seems to be directly related to how powerful your mutation is. Yours seems pretty strong, so I don’t doubt that you’d get a favourable result. Still… you’re quite right, it’s probably not a fair trade, so maybe we should start with something simpler… How about a kiss?”

Charles looked at Erik warily. “A kiss where…?”

Erik laughed again, harder this time. “Relax, gutter-brain”, he grinned, “I meant on the lips, of course”.

Charles stared up at Erik, heat rising in his face as he chewed his lower lip.

“Come on, Charles, I doubt you’ll get a better offer... Come sit in my lap”.

Charles scowled before rising up from the floor and standing over Erik, who was looking very smug indeed. Part of Charles wanted very much to tell Erik to go fuck himself, or worse, but Charles knew too much was at stake here.

Huffing out a noise of disgust, Charles stepped forward and dropped himself into Erik’s lap, rather aggressively to say the least. Erik grunted slightly as Charles landed on him, but recovered quickly- sliding his arm around Charles’ back to pull him closer.

Perched between Erik’s legs with his knees resting on Erik’s thighs, Charles grasped Erik harshly by the shoulders and pressed his lips against Erik’s mouth firmly. He registered Erik’s surprise at how brazen he was being- Erik seemed to stiffen for a moment before recovering and trying to regain control. He slid a hand up to cup Charles’ face, attempting to soften the kiss, but Charles wouldn’t let it happen. He remained rigid in Erik’s lap- hands resting against Erik’s shoulders- keeping him a suitable distance away as his lips touched Erik’s without moving. Erik moved his mouth over Charles’ before eventually sliding both hands down to Charles’ lower back and attempting to angle his body closer, but Charles wasn’t cooperating.

After maybe thirty seconds that felt like longer Charles abruptly withdrew- moving back from Erik and standing up before Erik had a chance to stop him. Erik made a small noise of protest as Charles slid from his grasp, looking up at him in disappointment and shameless want.

“Is that it?” Erik huffed at last.

“That’s it. More than suitable payment for a maybe, don’t you think?”

Erik only glowered in return.

“Alright, if we’re done here, I’m going home now”, Charles said, moving towards the door.

“Hey, hold up a minute- you’re not going anywhere”, Erik protested, rising from the chair and grabbing Charles by the arm. “Those two thugs are still out there somewhere- thanks to you not letting me take care of them properly. You’re staying here; I’ll walk you back to your cabin in the morning”.

“Well, why don’t you just walk me back now?”

“No, Charles. You’re staying here tonight, so you might as well make yourself comfortable”. At that, Erik let go of Charles’ arm and moved over towards the bed, reaching down to pull off his shirt as he went.

Charles watched, feeling distinctly nervous…

“Charles, just come to bed. You don’t have to worry- I’m not going to touch you unless you want me to”. Charles must have pulled a face then because Erik immediately rolled his eyes and added: “I know I know- you’re never going to want me to touch you... So I guess you can relax”.

Charles paused for a moment before edging slowly over to the bed. He removed his shoes, socks, and jacket but nothing else- climbing under the sheets still wearing his jeans and t-shirt.

Erik huffed out a laugh. “Come on, Charles- you’re not going to be very comfortable sleeping like that”.

Charles ignored him- facing away from Erik and curling himself up into a fetal position. He felt Erik get into the bed next to him and was relieved that Erik seemed to be keeping his hands to himself, as promised.

Still, Charles didn’t know how he would ever be able to get to sleep. And yet…


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

When Charles awoke he forgot for a moment where he was- eyes barely open as he listened to the sound of breathing next to him, before he abruptly realised that it wasn’t Hank or Anna Marie he could hear, it was Erik.

Charles froze in his position lying on his side, trying to figure out if Erik was awake or not without looking over at him. Eventually Charles decided he was pretty sure that Erik was still sleeping, and so he felt comfortable enough to roll over slowly to face Erik’s side of the bed.

Erik was asleep- lying on his back with his face turned away from Charles, breathing steadily. His chest was bare and the bedsheet was pulled down to his waist, though Charles could at least see that Erik was still wearing underwear- which was somewhat of a relief.

Charles rolled over onto his stomach, resting his head on his forearm and staring down at the lower half of Erik’s body. He was remembering what he’d almost done the night before- what he’d offered to Erik in exchange for his powers. He wondered whether Erik would ever really grant him access to his abilities like he’d said, and what Charles would have to do in return…

“You know if you want to see it, you only have to ask”.

Charles’ eyes flew back up to find Erik looking over at him, grinning broadly. Charles opened his mouth to say something but all that came out was a small squeak- which only made Erik smile wider.

Rolling away from Erik, Charles tumbled off the bed and rose to his feet, wrapping his arms around himself defensively.

“I want to go home now”, Charles demanded weakly, not meeting Erik’s eyes.

Erik was still smiling as he threw the bedcovers off himself, which made Charles blush and turn away.

“My my, professor- who knew you were so shy?” Erik smirked. “Okay, okay- give me a few minutes to have a shower and then I’ll take you back”.

Erik climbed off of the bed and moved towards the bathroom, before turning to look back at Charles and adding: “I don’t suppose you’d like to join me?”

Charles stared hotly back at Erik. “Like I said before, pretty fucking unlikely”.

 

 

 

Charles waited impatiently as Erik took his shower, trying not to think about what could be taking so much time…

Eventually Erik finished up and stepped outside the bathroom, wearing only a towel. Blushing once more Charles turned away and folded his arms, staring out of the front window as he waited for Erik to get dressed, trying to focus on the crisp gold and orange leaves falling down from the trees outside and nothing else. Charles jumped slightly when he felt Erik touch him lightly on the shoulder, noting in relief that Erik was now fully dressed and following as Erik opened the door and led him outside.

They walked in silence, mainly because Charles was hurrying ahead of Erik, just like he had the last time Erik had walked him home. By the time they reached the cabin Charles was significantly in front of him, and Erik had to rush forward a few steps in order to catch Charles by the hand.

“Can I see you again tonight?” Erik asked, looking down at Charles.

_“Do I have a choice?”_ Charles thought. But he was working on not blurting out everything that ran through his mind, for once, so for a moment he just stared up at Erik, not saying anything.

“Please…” Erik added, rubbing his thumb across the back of Charles’ hand.

Charles nodded at last, and Erik smiled in return- leaning down to press a kiss to Charles’ cheek before loosening hold of his hand and stepping away.

“Same time, okay? Try not to get beat up on your way over…” Erik stopped suddenly, starting to frown and adding: “Do you need me to get someone to escort you to me?”

Charles shook his head. “I’ll be fine, thanks”.

With that, Erik nodded and turned away- walking off down the path. Charles could almost have sworn that he heard Erik humming cheerfully as he went…

 

 

 

Hank had some questions for Charles as soon as he entered the cabin. Charles had shuffled inside- expecting to find the cabin empty with Hank and Anna Marie already gone to breakfast- but instead Hank was there, sitting back on his bed and reading a book. He looked up as Charles entered, before a horrified expression passed over his face and he dropped the book into his lap.

“Charles… what happened to you?”

Charles gazed back at Hank in confusion before suddenly he realised why Hank looked so troubled. Striding over to the mirror in the far corner of the room, Charles regarded his reflection with mild consternation. His lip was split, which he could feel, but there was also some bruising around his mouth and jaw that he hadn’t expected, as well as further marks on his neck. It certainly didn’t look good…

“Jesus, Charles... What did Magneto do to you?”

Charles turned around to face Hank, a slightly abashed expression on his face.

“No, Hank- Erik didn’t do this. It was two prisoners, if you can believe it. Turns out not everyone is so happy with the idea of me cosying up to the enemy…” Charles screwed up his face. “Erik, um, rescued me again, I’m sorry to say”.

“Oh, that sounds… unfortunate”, Hank said, “Though, I imagine not as unfortunate as what happened to the two guys who attacked you…” he added, raising his eyebrows. Clearly Hank knew as well as anyone that Magneto had a reputation for exacting harsh punishments.

Charles shook his head. “He didn’t kill them. He wanted to- he was going to, but I asked him not to, and he stopped”.

“He stopped?” Hank frowned. “Magneto actually listened to you?”

Charles hadn’t really thought much of it when it happened- he was used to people doing what he said, one way or another, but thinking about it now- maybe it was pretty remarkable. Erik had listened to him. Erik had done what he’d asked. Charles felt slightly giddy at the realisation that, for some reason, he seemed to have influence over Erik’s actions. Now the only question was, just what was he going to do about it?

 

 

 

For the rest of the day Charles busied himself with work. Today he and Hank were working with Darwin- a man whose mutation gave him the ability to adapt to whatever circumstances or environment he faced. Honestly, he didn’t need much help- Darwin had a pretty good handle on his powers, but it was still enjoyable to spend the day testing Darwin’s abilities regardless.

As he worked with Darwin, Charles couldn’t help wondering just why a pleasant young man like him would want to join an organisation like The Brotherhood. Charles struggled with that a lot- so many of the recruits he had met seemed normal, well-adjusted, kind even- Charles just couldn’t understand why they would do it.

In the end, it seemed like the only appropriate thing to do, was ask.

As it turned out, it was for a girl. Darwin had smiled sadly at Charles and told him how he’d joined The Brotherhood after a friend of his- Angel- had decided to sign up first. Darwin didn’t necessarily trust The Brotherhood, and he certainly didn’t want to join them, but he couldn’t let her do it alone.

“They’re not so bad, you know”, Darwin said. “Seriously- they’ve been good to me”.

Charles huffed out a short laugh. “I’m a prisoner, Darwin. I’m being held against my will. They may be inclined to be nice to you now, but what do you think would happen if you disobeyed them?”

Darwin looked away, embarrassed, and Charles immediately felt guilty. It wasn’t Darwin’s fault, not really. Much like his mutation, he was just doing what he needed to do to survive and- if he wanted to get out of this situation alive- Charles would have to do the same.

 

 

 

After Darwin had left, Charles and Hank spent some time typing up their research, though Charles could hardly concentrate. All day he’d been dwelling on what Erik had said to him yesterday- thinking about Version B, and what it could do for his powers. To be able to use his telepathy again- even a little bit… the thought was so unbelievably exciting that Charles almost wanted to burst into a grin.

But it was a complicated issue, and not just because of what Charles might have to do to get the drug... No, it was complicated because, even if he got his hands on Version B, that didn’t help Hank at all, or Anna Marie- at least not in the short term.

Charles wanted desperately to tell Hank about the alternative cuff, but he didn’t know if that was a good idea. At the present moment in time there were no certainties- so Charles would essentially just be getting Hank’s hopes up for nothing. On the other hand, even if Charles knew he would be getting the drug, he still didn’t know what the hell he was going to do with it anyway. His powers might not return, and even if they did- then what? Charles was in a locked compound surrounded by massive walls- how was he supposed to get himself and his friends out, with just a hint of telepathy to rely on?

 

 

 

When the evening drew in Charles went to Erik, without hesitation this time. He arrived at Erik’s cabin at precisely nine o’clock, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door lightly. The door unlocked and swung open, presumably as a result of Erik’s powers seen as Erik was still sitting in an armchair next to the fireplace.

Erik smiled as Charles entered, rising from his seat and crossing the room to greet him. He looked good- wearing a blue shirt and dark trousers with his hair neatly combed. He smelled good too, Charles realised as Erik approached. It was almost like… Erik was trying to impress someone. Like he was all dressed up, for a date.

Charles’ eyes wandered around the room- taking in the cosy lit fire, the bottle of wine and two glasses on the side table next to the sofa, Erik’s groomed appearance...

“What is this?” Charles murmured, lifting his gaze to meet Erik’s eyes.

“It’s… whatever you’d like it to be”, Erik replied softly, staring at Charles. He reached forward tentatively, grasping Charles’ hand. “Come sit down?”

Charles allowed himself to be led over to the sofa, sitting next to Erik with his body tilted away but his knees touching Erik’s. Erik reached behind him for the bottle of wine, lifting it and gesturing it at Charles, but returning it unopened when Charles shook his head.

“You’re sure?” Erik said, raising his eyebrows. “It’s a shame- you’re pretty interesting when you’ve had a drink… maybe a little bit too feisty though”.

Charles pulled a face. “Is this your usual method of seduction- you have to rely on getting your dates drunk?”

“Oh, so we’re on a date then, are we?” Erik replied, the corners of his mouth curling up in a delighted smile.

Charles looked away, feeling embarrassed. His mind wandered to what Erik had told him a few days previously- how’d he seen Charles a few times in his previous life, before Charles had been brought to the camp. Charles tried to imagine what it would have been like if Erik had just approached him one night and asked him out. It was fairly certain that Charles wouldn’t have been interested in dating a member of The Brotherhood, but if he hadn’t known that? If Erik had just been some attractive unknown guy at the bar? He was certainly Charles’ type- was it really so crazy to think that there was even a chance that he and Erik could be compatible?

Erik reached over, taking hold of Charles’ hand and holding it between both of his as Charles looked back over to him. He traced his fingers gently over Charles’ skin, gazing into Charles’ eyes intently.

This was… weird. It just didn’t fit at all with how Charles thought of Erik. Charles had seen Erik on the news- giving speeches and barking out orders. He had seen Erik in person- making threats and hurting people with his powers. Now he was seeing yet another side of Erik- Erik apparently in ‘date-mode’; flirting with Charles, though Charles suspected that maybe Erik had actually been flirting with him for a while, he just hadn’t been paying attention.

It didn’t add up- the two sides of Erik. How could this man, who had been so gentle when he’d taken care of Charles last night- who was so carefully caressing his hand now- be the same man who seemed determined to lay waste to humanity, until only mutants remained?

“Why do you hate humans so much?” Charles asked eventually.

“I don’t”, Erik replied, frowning softly. “I just… wish they wouldn’t try to get in our way”.

“You’re trying to exterminate them; why wouldn’t they oppose you?”

Erik’s expression darkened as he let go of Charles’ hand. “I would never…”, He looked away from Charles, his shoulders tense. “I’m not trying to exterminate the humans; I’m just trying to ensure our race survives”.

Charles frowned. “Why wouldn’t we survive?”

Erik looked back over at him. “Trask”, was all he said.

“Oh...” Charles knew that name. Bolivar Trask was a military scientist- very renowned; very respected. Very anti-mutant. He had spoken frequently about his distrust of mutants; how he believed that they would eventually try to take over, and destroy the humans. Of course, The Brotherhood had been in natural opposition towards him- and they weren’t afraid of making it known.

His assassination had been big news. It had happened at some sort of summit in Paris- Trask had been attacked, and shot point-blank. There had been rumours about who had done it- Mystique had been implicated- but no one could prove it; it was hard to pin a crime on someone who could look like anyone.

Initially when Trask was killed people were outraged- the man had been an esteemed scientist, and many mourned his loss. But then details had begun to emerge that revealed the true nature of the research Trask had been conducting, and public opinion changed. He had been experimenting on mutants- hurting them, torturing them, dissecting them… Countless mutants- all dead, because of Trask’s hatred of their race.

“What Trask did was horrible…” Charles said quietly. “But not all humans are like him. They don’t all want to see us destroyed”.

Erik’s eyes fixed coldly on Charles. “Trask wasn’t the first, and he won’t be the last”.

There was something else there too- something unsaid. Even without his telepathy Charles could sense it, he could tell that Erik was keeping something hidden just underneath the surface- some past pain, waiting to be uncovered. But Charles couldn’t be the one to unearth it. He didn’t want to know about Erik’s history, because there was a chance that knowing what Erik had experienced would somehow humanize him, and Charles didn’t want that. It would be too dangerous to sympathise with Erik, to maybe even begin to understand him, particularly now Charles knew what he had to do.

Charles had influence over Erik. He felt like he could manipulate him. And he was going to use that to his advantage- to get his powers back, and to escape.

“Did you make any progress with swapping my cuff?” Charles asked abruptly.

A flash of annoyance passed over Erik’s face, suggesting he was disappointed that Charles hadn’t wanted to talk further.

“No, I haven’t”, Erik replied stiffly. “I spoke to Mystique about it, but she wasn’t exactly enthralled with the idea…”

“Why do you need Mystique’s approval? I didn’t realise she was your boss”.

“She isn’t”, Erik scowled, “But we’re partners- I’m not going to do this without her being okay with it”.

“But what if she’s never okay with it?”

Erik shook his head. “She’ll come around- she just needs time. She may not like you very much, but she understands how valuable you are to our operation”.

Charles really didn’t like the sound of that. Clearly Erik had some sort of plan in mind here- something that went much further than the two of them spending the odd evening cosying up together. Charles was important to the ‘operation’, not just to Erik personally. It was a disturbing notion.

Charles huffed out a noise of disgust that betrayed his inward annoyance.

“Stop pouting, Charles. It’s only been one day since I first mentioned swapping your cuff, and let’s be honest- do you really think you’ve earned it yet?”

“We had a deal”, Charles replied, glaring over at Erik.

“Yes, we did, and we’re not quite there yet”.

Charles leaned back on the sofa, folding his arms across his chest stiffly. “So… what do you want now?” he asked evenly.

Erik smiled. “I want what I asked for last night, except… softer. You know- a kiss where it doesn’t feel like you’re trying to assault me with your mouth”.

“Maybe that’s just my style”, Charles sulked.

“No, I think you can do better”.

Charles paused, glowering at Erik. “Alright, fine”, he said eventually.

“Good… Come lie down”.

Erik rose from the sofa, walking over to the bed in a few easy steps before lying down on it with his back resting against the pillows.

“Well…” Erik said, rising his eyebrows at Charles, “Get over here, though I’d appreciate it if you removed your shoes first- along with anything else you’d like to take off…”

Charles begrudgingly kicked his shoes off across the room before getting up from the sofa and walking over to Erik, scowling as he knelt down on the bed next to him. Charles was considering what to do next when Erik reached forward abruptly, grabbing Charles around the waist and pulling Charles on top of him.

“Hey!” Charles protested- squirming as Erik embraced him tightly and pulled him close. “Get off!”

“I probably will if you keep rubbing against me like that”, Erik replied, grinning wickedly.

Charles visibly flushed and stopped struggling, resting with his palms and knees placed on the bed either side of Erik; Erik using his arms to keep Charles’ lower body pressed against his own.

It was sorely tempting to headbutt Erik, if only to wipe the smug smile off his face, but that wasn’t part of the plan.

Erik removed one hand from Charles’ waist, sliding it up the side of Charles’ neck and cupping his face gently. It wasn’t long before Erik’s hand was in Charles’ hair again, which was proving to be Charles’ weakness. Erik stared up at Charles, his eyes soft and yearning, his lips reaching…

Erik kissed him, and like before- Charles was a statue. He remained impassive in Erik’s grasp- body rigid and unmoving as Erik mouthed against him.

“Charles, open your mouth…” Erik murmured, lips brushing against Charles’.

_“Fuck off”_ , Charles was thinking, but he didn’t say it.

Erik’s other hand moved from Charles’ lower back, sliding round to caress Charles’ stomach and lower ribs. Charles was still tender there from where he’d been punched the day before, and a small moan of part-pain part-pleasure left his lips. Charles’ mouth only opened slightly, but that was enough for Erik to use his lips to part Charles’ mouth further- sliding his tongue inside at last.

As they kissed Charles’ thoughts were moving very quickly from _“Fuck off”_ to _“Fuck me”_ , which couldn’t be helped really. It was his coping mechanism- he was imagining that Erik was just some guy he’d met at a bar that had taken him home for the night. Charles was not a prisoner. Charles was not making out with his captor…

Erik was having a lovely time; lips moving eagerly against Charles’, tongue licking into his mouth, hands sliding down to rest just above Charles’ ass- angling his body so that Charles pressed more firmly against his hard cock. Charles felt pretty safe, considering. It was like they were teenagers, just kissing, nothing R rated- Erik’s hands staying where they were; one now on Charles’ waist, the other in Charles’ hair. Everything was under control.

But Charles forgot one important thing- he was perfectly happy keeping track of Erik’s hands, neglecting to remember that Erik didn’t necessarily need his hands in order to take things further…

Erik used his powers to undo Charles’ belt buckle in a flash- his hand sliding around to Charles’ lower stomach when it happened and reaching down as the zip of Charles’ jeans lowered.

Charles let out a yelp, pulling back from Erik abruptly and edging backwards, but scrambling too far and beginning to fall off the bed. Erik reacted quickly- reaching his hand forward and using his ability to grasp hold of the metal cuff on Charles’ wrist, holding his arm still. It wasn’t a good idea though- Charles was still falling, and with Erik keeping his arm rigid he could only cry out when his arm twisted painfully behind him as he fell to the floor.

Charles crashed to the ground with a groan- Erik letting go of his hold on Charles’ wrist at last and allowing his arm to drop limply at his side. He lay on the floor, breath laboured with pain as Erik leapt off the bed and hurried to Charles’ side, kneeling down next to Charles and reaching to touch him lightly on the arm.

His shoulder was dislocated- Charles knew it. He’d experienced the feeling before once when he was playing rugby and someone had tackled him. It hurt like hell, but at least it could be fixed.

That’s what Charles was thinking- that’s what he tried to say to Erik, but unfortunately all that came out was: “Ughhhh, fucking prick…”

Swearing at Erik was not wise- Charles had learnt that lesson before- but this time there were no repercussions for Charles’ words, there was actually an apology.

“I’m sorry…” Erik murmured, reaching to hold Charles’ face gently. “How badly are you hurt?”

“Pretty bad”, Charles groaned. “I think my shoulder is dislocated- it needs to be put back into place”.

“I can take you to see our medical officer”.

“No, no- Hank can do it. Can you take me to him?”

“Of course”, Erik replied, standing up and gently lifting Charles to his feet.

 

 

 

It was a longer walk back to his cabin that Charles’ would have liked, but it was worth it to get his shoulder fixed. The pain was throbbing through him, even after Erik had immobilised the damaged limb with a makeshift sling- strapping Charles’ injured arm across his body.

Before long they reached the cabin- Erik shoving open the door with his powers and ushering Charles inside. Across the room Anna Marie was sat on her bed with Remy, and both of them abruptly jumped apart as Erik entered- Remy standing to his feet immediately.

“Hey, boss- I was just, um—“, Remy mumbled.

“I don’t care about what you’re doing”, Erik interrupted, “Just leave- the both of you”.

Remy looked over to Anna Marie uncertainly before taking hold of her hand and pulling her with him as he left the cabin, Anna Marie shooting a concerned look at Charles as she went.

“You”, Erik said, pointing over at Hank, “Get over here- I need you to fix Charles’ shoulder”.

Hank got up from where he was sitting on his bed and walked briskly over to Charles, beckoning Charles forward and directing him to take a seat. Hank took the seat opposite, looking over at Charles anxiously.

“What happened?” Hank asked.

“I fell off the bed”, Charles replied. Hank’s mouth dropped open in shock, and Charles tried not to crack a smile. It was almost worth the injury just to see the look on Hank’s face.

“My shoulder is dislocated, I think”, Charles continued. “Can you pop it back in?”

Hank frowned, reaching forward to remove the makeshift sling as he examined Charles’ shoulder. After a brief check Hank had concluded that it was in fact dislocated- helping Charles to his feet as he prepared to pop the joint back into place.

“This is going to be a tad uncomfortable…” Hank murmured apologetically as he took hold of Charles’ shoulder. One sharp push later- and a painful shout from Charles- and the joint was reset.

A short while afterwards and Charles was lying back on his bed- shoulder still throbbing slightly, but improving- due in part to the painkillers Hank had given him. Charles was staring up at the ceiling, listening to Hank and Erik talking.

“You need to be more careful with him”, Hank demanded. Charles tilted his head over to look at Hank in surprise and affection. Hank was scared of Erik- that much was obvious- and yet he was willing to stand up to him for Charles. He’d always been a great friend like that.

Erik actually looked slightly guilty in response, dropping his gaze as Hank stared at him.

“I know…” Erik replied. “It was an accident- it won’t happen again… Is he going to be okay?”

“Eventually”, Hank replied. “It’ll take a few weeks to heal properly, but we can keep him topped up with painkillers in the meantime. Of course, he won’t be able to do anything _strenuous_ for a while”, Hank added, looking at Erik pointedly.

Charles screwed up his face in embarrassment. Perhaps making that comment about falling off the bed had been ill-advised, after all.

To Charles’ surprise, Erik actually looked embarrassed too- staring down at his feet and shifting uncomfortably. It was the first time Charles had seen Erik look like that, and he couldn’t help laughing.

Both Erik and Hank turned abruptly to look at Charles as he laughed, making Charles fight to gulp down his mirth when it happened.

“I see you’re feeling better”, Erik said pointedly. “Are you ready to go?”

“No”, Hank interrupted, adding more quietly when Erik turned to glare at him: “No, he needs to rest... Please- it’s for his own good”.

Erik regarded Hank for a long moment, jaw clenching slightly, before he relented.

“Fine- he can stay here tonight. But you keep an eye on him”, Erik instructed- pressing his index finger into Hank’s chest.

“I will”, Hank promised.

Erik came over to Charles before he left, leaning over the bed and reaching down to press a kiss to Charles’ forehead.

“Sorry for what happened, again”, he said softly. “Get some rest- I’ll see you soon”.

Erik placed a further kiss on Charles’ cheek before he turned and walked towards the door, nodding briefly at Hank before he left.


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

When Charles had first arrived at the camp, he hadn’t known how he was going to survive it. Things had seemed hopeless at first- cut off from his telepathy, held captive against his will, forced to work for an oppressive overlord who seemed to determine to either fight Charles or feel him up, depending on his mood at the time. The first week or so had definitely been the hardest.

But, there was good too. There was Hank- Charles’ constant companion throughout his strife. There was Anna Marie- a new friend and ally, as well as Logan- even if Charles considered him an annoyance more than a friend most days. And there were the recruits that Charles worked with- people like Alex and Darwin, who’d he’d grown close to in his time at the camp.

And now, there was hope. Erik had said he would provide Charles with limited access to his powers, he only needed time to convince Mystique that it would be a good idea. Charles couldn’t wait, but unfortunately it seemed like he would have to…

Since the last time he’d seen Erik- when Charles had dislocated his shoulder falling off Erik’s bed- Erik had been mysteriously absent from his life. The entire day afterwards Charles had carried on with his daily routine, expecting Erik to come find him- or to send one of his minions- but there was nothing.

By the time night fell Charles was beginning to get a little bit worried about Erik, which he found entirely ridiculous. Still, Charles couldn’t help feeling relieved when Remy stopped by the cabin to see Anna Marie, and provided some news.

“He’s in Cuba”, Remy explained, though that didn’t clarify much.

“Why?” Charles asked, frowning.

Remy shrugged. “Hey, I don’t know man- Gambit’s not privy to the details, you know? All I’ve heard is- he and Mystique went to Cuba for a few days for some sort of important meeting- that’s all”.

A few days without Erik… Charles honestly didn’t know how to feel about that.

 

 

 

The few days passed quickly, and being apart from Erik gave Charles chance to relax and allow his shoulder to heal- which could only be a good thing. Regardless, it was still hurting a little on the day Remy showed up at the hangar- instructing Charles to come with him.

Charles didn’t need to ask who he was going to see, though maybe he should have asked why, and where…

Remy took Charles to the far side of the camp, to an area Charles had never really explored before. The cabins here were larger- presumably not residential, but commercial- though Charles had no clue what activities would be happening here.

Walking up the steps to one of the cabins, Charles was tempted to ask Remy what he had been called here for, but he knew that the man probably wouldn’t tell him. Besides, it was time to find out anyway.

Remy knocked on the door and, after affirmation from inside, gestured for Charles to enter, before turning away and beginning to walk off down the path as Charles stepped inside.

Walking into the cabin, Charles’ eyes were drawn immediately to Erik. He turned towards Charles straight away, reaching out almost like he was going to hold Charles’ hand, before thinking better of it and grasping him on the wrist instead- pulling Charles forward. Charles noticed Mystique as he stepped further into the room, observing that she looked as unimpressed with him as she always did as she stood with her arms folded across her chest. Then Charles looked behind Mystique, realising there were also three other people in the room that he’d never seen before- one sat behind a table, with two others standing either side.

“So, is this him?” the man in the centre asked.

“Yes”, Erik replied, holding Charles on his uninjured shoulder and turning him to face the three strangers fully. “This is Professor Charles Xavier”.

“Hmm… I thought he’d be taller”.

Charles pulled a face, mildly irritated by the man’s indifferent tone of voice.

“And you are?” Charles asked scornfully.

“Oh, how terribly rude of me”, the man replied, even though he probably knew that Charles was the one being rude. “My name is Sebastian Shaw, and these are my associates- Emma Frost, and Azazel”. Shaw gestured in turn to each of his companions- an impeccably styled blonde woman, and a sinister looking man with dark red skin.

Charles’ gaze flicked down to each of their wrists in turn, noticing that none of them were wearing a metal cuff. Clearly, they were not members of The Brotherhood.

There was a moment of silence after Shaw had finished talking, leaving Charles at a loss as to just what the hell he’d been summoned for. He wanted to ask, but he sensed that he’d probably already been impertinent enough for one encounter.

“So…” Shaw said at last, clapping his hands together once, “Erik here has been telling us a lot about you, Charles- so naturally we’re all very excited to meet you”.

“Really?” Charles frowned, looking over at Erik, who gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder in return.

“Absolutely. We hear you’ve been doing some exciting work with The Brotherhood’s new recruits- helping them to develop their powers and the like”.

Oh, that was all? Charles didn’t think that sounded like particularly riveting information. Why would Shaw want to speak to him about that?

“Well come on then, boy- tell us about it”, Shaw urged.

Charles was at a loss, and frankly he was a little bit annoyed at being paraded in front of these people like he was some sort of performing monkey. Still, Charles was working at not getting himself into more trouble than he could handle, so he decided to just play nice. For now…

Charles told Shaw and his companions about his work with the recruits- about helping Alex to control his abilities, about working with Darwin and the others. He explained in as much detail as he could, not sure if he should be dumbing down the more technical aspects of his research or whether Shaw was educated enough to understand. He seemed to get it though- nodding approvingly as Charles spoke, and asking questions where necessary.

When Charles had finished speaking Shaw sat back in his chair, looking at Charles in consideration for a moment.

“Well, I think that helps clarify things”, Shaw said finally. “I think you’ll prove to be very useful to us”.

Charles frowned. Useful to them? Just what the hell did that mean?

“You can go now”, Shaw instructed, before Erik pulled Charles by the arm and led him towards the door.

When they were outside Charles followed Erik down the steps before shrugging out of Erik’s hold and turning to face him.

“Who are those people?” Charles asked.

“They call themselves The Hellfire Club”, Erik said, taking Charles by the arm once more and beginning to lead him away from the cabin.

Charles pulled out of Erik’s grasp again. “That doesn’t tell me anything”, he protested. “What do they want?”

Erik looked down at Charles in mild annoyance. “Charles, behave. They might be watching”.

“What do you care if they see us? Do you answer to them?”

Erik sighed in exasperation. “Charles, please. Just walk with me, and I’ll try to answer your questions”.

Erik reached forward and grasped Charles by the arm again, and this time Charles allowed Erik to lead him.

When they were a suitable distance away, Erik began to speak: “Shaw is… an investor”, he explained, “He’s contributed to The Brotherhood numerous times over the years- donating money and resources, providing mutants to work for us…”

“And what does he ask of you, in return for all this?”

“Nothing… yet. He has similar ideals in mind- we want the same things, so for the most part he’s happy to just provide us with whatever we need to further the cause. Recently, however, he’s been asking more of us… He’s been talking for a while about conducting research into mutant abilities- wanting to unlock the secrets of evolution. When he heard about you and the papers you’d had published on the subject, and about what you’d been doing here at the camp, he wanted to meet you”.

Charles frowned. “But he said… he said I could be very useful to him. What does that mean?”

Erik smiled reassuringly. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Charles, he probably just wants to talk to you more about your research”.

“But you don’t know for sure what he wants with me?”

Erik stopped, turning towards Charles and reaching up to hold his face with both hands.

“Whatever you’re worrying about, you can stop. I won’t let anything bad happen to you”, Erik said softly, rubbing the skin below Charles’ ears with his thumbs.

It didn’t really make Charles feel any better.

“How’s your shoulder?” Erik asked eventually, moving one hand to grasp it gently.

“Fine…” Charles grumbled. “It’s still a bit sore, but it’s getting better”.

“Good- that’s good”, Erik smiled. “Are you coming to my cabin tonight?”

Charles bit his lip and looked away, still thinking about Shaw and what he might want.

“I have news about the cuff…” Erik added. Charles flicked his gaze back over to Erik, his face growing faintly hopeful.

“Yeah, I thought that would capture your interest”, Erik smiled. “I’ll see you later, okay? Are you able to get back to the hangar from here? I need to head back to join Mystique”.

Charles nodded, and Erik loosened his hold on Charles’ face before stepping away and heading back down the path.

“Wear something slutty!” Erik shouted as he left.

 

 

 

Charles was not wearing something slutty.

It wasn’t even an option- given the limited wardrobe at Charles’ disposal, and he suspected Erik knew that. Still, Erik’s comment, along with the reveal that there was news on the cuff situation, had Charles wondering just what Erik had in store for him tonight.

When Charles entered the cabin Erik stood up to meet him, smiling broadly. He looked like he was already dressed for bed- wearing sweatpants and a white t-shirt.

Charles wandered into the room, moving to join Erik in front of the fire but still keeping a reasonable distance, which apparently Erik wasn’t happy with.

“Come here”, Erik urged, reaching his hand forward. “I’ve missed you”.

“You saw me this morning”, Charles replied curtly, staying where he was.

“Yes, I know that, but I wasn’t able to show you then how much I’ve missed you, and now I’d like to”.

Charles still didn’t move, watching Erik warily. Eventually Erik sighed, reaching behind him for a moment before bringing his hand back out- opening his fingers to reveal a black metal cuff in his palm.

“Is that…?” Charles asked, moving forward at last.

Erik nodded. “Version B. Mystique came around to the idea, just like I said she would”.

Charles reached his hand forward to grab the cuff but Erik pulled it away, and Charles huffed out a noise of irritation- looking up at Erik petulantly before asking: “What do you want for it?”

“What are you willing to give?”

Charles thought about it for a moment. What would he be willing to give to have his telepathy back? Charles couldn’t think of much he wouldn’t do, particularly as in this instance the return of his powers could potentially mean the key to his whole future.

Charles glared at Erik sullenly, before flicking his gaze down to Erik’s crotch once and then back up.

Erik got the message. “Very well… On your knees”.

After a moment of hesitation Charles dropped to his knees, wiping his slightly sweaty palms on his jeans as he reached the ground. He was eye level with Erik’s crotch, staring forward, waiting for Erik to do something. When he didn’t, Charles glanced up at last.

Erik was staring down at him, a curious expression on his face.

“Are you sure?” Erik asked softly.

Charles couldn’t afford to doubt himself. “What’s the matter, Erik, are you having performance anxiety?”

Erik looked away for a moment, huffing out an irritated sigh. Charles was just about to taunt him some more when Erik abruptly reached down and pulled at his sweatpants- sliding them down to reveal his cock.

Oh. Well this certainly was a big problem Charles had talked himself into- massive, in fact…

Charles stared fully at Erik’s cock, his mouth parting slightly in reverence as he took in the sight. Erik’s member was impressive enough at half-mast, and Charles despaired slightly- wondering how he was going to manage it. But clearly whatever disconcerted look was showing on Charles’ face was appealing to Erik, as his cock began to visibly harden further in front of Charles’ eyes.

“What’s the matter, Charles, are you having performance anxiety?”

Charles scowled, heat rising in his face as he refused to look up at Erik.

“Open your mouth”, Erik instructed.

Charles obliged, closing his eyes and opening his mouth slightly as Erik gripped the base of his cock and angled it forward. He slid the head into Charles’ mouth; Charles widening his jaw as much as possible to accommodate Erik’s thick shaft. When his member was half in Charles swirled his tongue around the head- a reflex, from his usual method. Evidently Erik wasn’t expecting it, as his hips bucked and he gave out a quick moan.

Erik slid his hands to rest on either side of Charles’ face, fingers tracing the skin below Charles’ ears in soft motions as he slowly withdrew his cock before sliding it in again- slightly further this time. Charles pressed his tongue down flat to assist, feeling the head of Erik’s cock bump against the back of his throat before Erik pulled away again.

This was probably better- Erik seemed content to just slowly fuck Charles’ mouth, rather than making Charles actually suck him off. Charles tried not to think how ridiculous his current situation was; when being face-fucked was considered the easier choice…

Erik had slid hid cock in further now, sending it pulsing down Charles’ throat, moving one hand to rub against the front of Charles’ neck- like he was trying to feel his own cock through the wall of Charles’ throat. As soon as Charles gasped a little he withdrew again, giving Charles space to breath. It was actually all very tentative- clearly Erik was testing Charles, seeing what his limits were and seemingly trying to respect them.

Eventually though Erik picked up speed- sliding his hands into Charles’ hair and cradling the back of his head as he began to thrust his hips forward. Charles was doing okay though- breathing hard through his nose as Erik’s cock rocked into his mouth, his hands now resting carefully on Erik’s thighs to brace himself.

Charles could sense Erik was getting close- his movements were erratic and he was breathing hard and groaning quietly. Finally, the climax happened- Charles felt Erik thrust forward one last time before he came hard down Charles’ throat with a shuddering moan. Charles stayed where he was for a short while, waiting until it was safe before withdrawing back and letting Erik’s cock slide from his mouth, removing his hands away from Erik also as he slumped back to rest on his legs.

Charles’ head lolled forward, opening his eyes to stare down at his hands in his lap, breathing heavily and swallowing hard. Out of the corner of his eye Charles saw Erik pull his sweatpants up and step away from him but he didn’t look up; continuing to just focus on the ground as he tried to restore his laboured breathing to normal.

Unexpectedly, the black metal cuff on Charles’ wrist fell away and dropped to the floor with a clunk.

Charles’ head shot up- looking over to Erik who was now lying back on the bed and watching Charles carefully. Quickly Charles’ gaze moved back to his arm- reaching his other hand over to feel the area on his wrist where the cuff had been placed. There were hundreds of tiny marks all over Charles’ skin, with vivid green dots of fluid in each of the indents.

“Charles…” Erik said warningly. “Come here, please- I need to put the other cuff on”.

Charles glanced over to him. “Can I at least wash my arm first?” he requested, voice slightly hoarse.

Erik paused for a second, before reaching to pick up a bag on the bedside table and throwing it over to Charles. “Okay, be quick. You can put those on whilst you’re in there”.

Charles picked up the bag and opened it, finding a set of pyjamas inside.

“If you’re going to be sleeping here you might as well be comfortable”, Erik rationalised. Charles didn’t feel the need to mention that Erik could just let him go back to his own cabin each night, rather than providing him with pyjamas.

Charles rose from his knees, crossing the room quickly and entering the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind him. He turned on the water in the sink and ran his arm underneath it, scrubbing lightly with his other hand to remove the green gel of the drug from his wrist. The indents remained, however- Charles suspected it would take a while for those to fade.

After his arm was sufficiently clean Charles stayed where he was for a while, leaning over the sink and staring hard into the mirror, just willing his telepathy to return. He knew it was futile- Logan had told him before that it would take several hours for the effect of the drug to wear off- but Charles couldn’t help trying anyway. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed there staring at his reflection, but soon he heard Erik call from outside the room and he knew it was time to go.

Changing into his new set of pyjamas quickly, Charles took a deep breath and stepped outside the bathroom.

Erik was looking over at him from where he was lying back on the bed, holding Charles’ new cuff in his hands. Charles crossed the room unhurriedly, pausing by the side of the bed before taking a seat on it next to Erik.

“Can I see it?” Charles requested, and Erik nodded- passing the metal cuff over to him.

Holding it up to his face, Charles examined the cuff. It was completely smooth on the outside, but on this inside there were hundreds of tiny spikes- not sharp, just pointed. Charles ran his fingers around the inner circle, surprised to notice that there was no liquid leaking from the cuff at this point.

“How do you activate it?” Charles asked, turning the cuff over in his hands.

“There’s a mechanism inside”, Erik explained. “I can turn it on or off with my powers”.

Charles felt an unexpected thrill run through him. So that’s how it worked- Erik was able to turn the cuffs on or off at will, and no one except him would know it had happened.

“Are you ready?” Erik asked, taking the cuff from Charles’ hand.

“No…” Charles replied honestly.

Charles extended his wrist towards Erik anyway, watching as Erik levitated the cuff in the air and opened it, before it reformed around Charles’ wrist. Once it was situated there was a tiny hissing sound and an unpleasant wet sensation as the cuff dispensed the drug.

“Will you let me know when you start to feel your powers return?” Erik enquired softly, looking over at Charles.

Charles looked back up to Erik and nodded. Erik smiled in return and reached to pull Charles towards him so that Charles was lying next to Erik with his head resting on Erik’s chest. Charles lay with his arm stretched over Erik’s torso, listening to Erik’s heartbeat and staring at the cuff on his wrist- thinking about his telepathy, and when it would make a reappearance.

_“I’ll just lie here for a little while…”_ Charles thought, deciding he would just humour Erik for a bit before withdrawing to his side of the bed to sleep. But then Erik slid his hands into Charles’ hair and began to run his fingers through it, and Charles was lost.

 

 

 

When Charles awoke the next morning his mind opened before his eyes did. He was stretching- reaching out with his telepathy, attempting to feel out across the room with his powers, trying desperately to sense… anything. But there was nothing.

Charles’ eyes cracked open as he began to take in his surroundings. He was still curled up next to Erik- his head resting on Erik’s chest and his arm around Erik’s waist, and he could feel Erik breathing steadily beneath him. There was a soft light filling the room, and the sound of rain falling mixed with the noise of birds chirping outside.

Charles tilted his gaze upwards, lifting his head off of Erik’s chest slowly as he looked at him. Erik was asleep, and smiling slightly… It was quite a nice sight- to see Erik looking so content and relaxed; all the hard edges of his face softened for once.

Moving slowly and carefully, Charles withdrew from Erik as he climbed off the bed and crossed the room- slipping inside the bathroom and closing the door behind him. He’d never showered at Erik’s cabin before, and part of him wondered if he was supposed to ask permission first, but he decided to just risk it.

A short while later and Charles was feeling suitably clean. He changed into his clothes from last night before taking time to fiddle with the cuff on his wrist some more. It didn’t feel any different than the one he’d been wearing yesterday, and Charles was starting to get a bit suspicious…

Opening the door to the bathroom, Charles stepped outside to find the bed across the room unexpectedly empty.

“Good morning, Charles…”

Charles turned to find Erik standing to the side of him- leaning on the wall next to the door of the bathroom with his arms folded.

“How are you feeling?” Erik continued. Charles wasn’t sure what Erik was referring to- his mental state since the cuff had been changed, or his physical state since Erik had fucked his mouth…

Erik unfolded his arms and moved towards Charles- reaching to hold Charles’ face with one hand as he looked down at him. “Can you tell what I’m thinking yet?” he asked.

Charles couldn’t.

“You wouldn’t… lie to me, would you?” Charles murmured, gazing up at Erik.

Erik frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The cuff… I can’t feel anything”.

Erik sighed and removed his hand as he took a step back from Charles, looking pained. “You think- what? That I lied to you about the cuff, to manipulate you into… being intimate with me?”

That was exactly what Charles was thinking, but when Charles looked at Erik he didn’t look guilty, or victorious, or anything else Charles would have expected had Erik been lying to him. He actually looked offended.

Charles didn’t know what to say. He felt embarrassed that he’d accused Erik of deceiving him, but felt equally hopeless to realise that- if the cuff was genuine- then Charles powers really hadn’t returned, and perhaps never would.

Charles let out a long sigh at last, closing his eyes and pressing his face into his hands, leaning back against the wall behind him. He felt Erik move closer, placing his palms on the wall either side of Charles, and when Charles dropped his hands and opened his eyes Erik’s face was inches from his own- gazing down at Charles with genuine concern and affection.

“I would never lie to you”, Erik murmured softly. “It might take time, you know, for your powers to start to return. Please don’t give up hope”.

Hope. Charles felt the feeling in his chest- like small flame, waiting to be given fuel, or extinguished…

Erik leaned into Charles, glancing down to his mouth as he brought his face closer, before Charles turned his head away to the side. Erik let out a small sound- the soft echo of a sigh. He rested his forehead against the side of Charles’ face, lips hovering near the vicinity of Charles’ ear.

“It’s okay, Charles…” Erik whispered. “I’m not asking for you for anything, I only want to… return the favour, for last night…”

Charles froze, realising what Erik was offering even before he felt Erik’s hand slide down to his lower stomach under his t-shirt; Erik’s fingertips tracing the bare skin above Charles’ jeans gently, Charles trying to remain impassive even as he felt his skin prickle and his cock stir slightly.

This was all getting far too complicated. It was one thing for Charles to give himself to Erik- to let Erik kiss him or fuck his mouth or maybe even fuck him properly one day, but to go one step further- to let their ‘arrangement’ become reciprocal in nature? No- Charles couldn’t allow that line to get blurred.

“No”, Charles whispered heatedly, moving to slide away from Erik’s embrace. Erik let him go, though he looked disappointed to say the least.

“You’re sure?” Erik asked, tilting his head as he looked at Charles. “Honestly, it might help you to… relax”.

The idea of Erik’s mouth on him, the idea of Erik’s tongue on his cock… relaxing wasn’t the word that came to mind.

“No”, Charles said more firmly, folding his arms across his chest. Erik stared quietly back at him for a few moments, before nodding.

“Okay...” Erik replied at last, “Okay, whatever you want. Just… let me go take a shower and then I’ll walk you home”.

Charles nodded, walking over to take a seat on the sofa whilst he waited. He heard Erik head into the bathroom, heard the sound of the shower turning on, felt nothing… Back when he’d had access to his telepathy he would have been able to feel Erik’s mind, even from another room. Now, everything was just blank.

Charles felt more helpless and hopeless than he had at any time since he’d first arrived at the camp.


	6. Chapter 6

 

 

When it happened, Charles hadn’t been expecting it.

After Erik had swapped the cuff on Charles’ wrist for one with a diminished version of the drug that suppressed his abilities, Charles had spent every waking second just awaiting a sign that his telepathy was coming back to him. It was like waiting for rain in a drought; like waiting for rescue when you were stranded, and every minute that passed without change was a prolonged agony.

A day and a half later, Charles had all but given up hope.

He was lying on the bed in Erik’s cabin, with Erik resting on top of him kissing him passionately. Part of Charles wondered what he was doing here- Erik had given him what he wanted; he had given Charles a chance at access to his abilities, so why was he still playing at being Erik’s pet? Why was he letting Erik kiss him and hold him and grind into him? Granted, nothing particularly scandalous had happened during their encounters since Charles had allowed Erik to fuck his mouth a couple of days previously, but still.

Charles decided he would figure it out later, some time when Erik wasn’t nibbling on his earlobe…

And so, he had been lying underneath Erik- arms resting on the pillow behind him as Erik kissed him and traced fingers across his skin and rocked into him. It was the same routine as the last few times they had made out- like they were the most cautious of lovers; a passionate embrace, but with all clothes firmly on.

Charles was dealing with it- his body helplessly responding to Erik’s touch but his mind remaining rigid through will alone. And then, there had been… a sense. Desire. It washed over Charles like a wave, making him breathless, and excited. It wasn’t his emotion.

Charles started to laugh, even though Erik’s tongue was still in his mouth at the time. He couldn’t help it though- the sound rose out of him like a song, splitting his face in an expression of joy as Erik withdrew and looked down at him questioningly. Charles’ eyes were closed, his hands coming down to cover his face as he laughed- grinning giddily.

When Charles removed his hands and opened his eyes Erik was grinning too- an impossibly wide smile that showed all of his teeth.

“Well, this is unexpected”, Erik chuckled. “I’ve never seen you smile like this before… It’s beautiful”.

“I can feel it”, Charles replied, still smiling. “I can feel your mind”.

“Really??” Erik looked almost as excited as Charles felt. “What am I thinking?”

Charles’ smile faded slightly. “I… I don’t know. It’s not clear. It’s like trying to see through a layer of Vaseline- everything’s blurry, and I can’t get individual thoughts. Just… a feeling”.

“Okay… How do I feel, then?”

Charles paused, looking up at Erik with a slight smirk playing across his face. “You feel… aroused”.

Erik laughed. “I don’t think you need telepathy to figure that out”, he replied, shifting his hips to press his hard cock against Charles purposefully, before Charles playfully shoved at him.

Charles rested his head back against the pillow, pressing his hands to his forehead and just enjoying the feeling of his telepathy being present, even if it was only the smallest glimmer. Erik watched him for a long moment, before leaning close once again.

“Do you want to know what I’m thinking?” Erik murmured. Charles didn’t even have time to respond before Erik tilted his head and began to whisper in Charles’ ear:

“I’m thinking about fucking you… I’m thinking about what it would be like to have you naked and writhing under me…”

Charles’ heartrate was increasing- blood pumping hot through his veins as Erik began to kiss lustfully down the side of his face. Charles was now thinking about it too, and not just because Erik had said it- because he could _feel_ how much Erik wanted it. It was all-consuming.

Erik stopped kissing Charles’ cheek, leaning back from him and looking into his eyes- like he was waiting for a response, but Charles had none to offer.

“It’s okay if you need more time”, Erik said eventually.

Charles almost laughed. Time- how hilarious. He didn’t think there was enough time in the world to make him comfortable with the idea of sleeping with a known murderer. What Charles needed wasn’t time, it was freedom. But then he thought more about it…

Time... Maybe that was the answer. No one fully knew what the effects would be of Charles staying on Version B of the suppressant. If his abilities continued to grow stronger, maybe there was a chance he could gain enough power to help him escape. Maybe if Erik thought he was waiting for Charles to be ready to have sex with him, it would give Charles enough time to regain control, and he wouldn’t have to.

Charles nodded. Time would be good.

 

 

 

There was no way of knowing how long it would take for Charles’ telepathy to get stronger- or if it even would- so Charles spent the next few days in kind of a weird state. He hadn’t had such a hard time controlling his telepathy since his powers had first developed when he was a child, and it was very confusing. It was like trying to find your way in a dark room- Charles could sense things, sometimes hear things, but there was no definition or clarity to his findings.

It didn’t help that he couldn’t really test how accurate his telepathy was, not really. The only person who knew about it was Erik, and understandably Charles didn’t exactly want Erik to be completely aware of just how far his powers were progressing.

Charles considered telling Hank everything. Honestly, he felt like a complete bastard for keeping something like this to himself, but as yet he wasn’t sure what the benefits would be of revealing the secret to Hank. It’s not like Hank would be able to do anything to help the situation; essentially the only thing to gain by telling Hank would be to give him hope that there was a way out for the two of them, but part of Charles felt like that would be false-hope, as he had no idea if having limited access to his telepathy would even come to anything. And so, he decided to keep quiet. Just for now.

By the time a few days had passed Charles was able to pick up on surface thoughts, but only occasionally. Charles found that proximity seemed to be the key to enhancing his blurry telepathy- he had a terrible time reading minds from across the room, but if he was standing next to a person, particularly touching them, it became much easier to get a read on what they were thinking. Charles spent a great deal of time one day with his hand on Hank’s arm as they worked- trying to read his thoughts- but he had to withdraw eventually when he got the sense that Hank was getting the wrong idea.

As well as working on developing his own powers, Charles continued his work with The Brotherhood’s recruits. He’d met several of them by now, including Angel- the girl Darwin had told him about previously. Like Darwin, she seemed to have a pretty good handle on her abilities, but she was distant, defensive, and had a great distrust of men that Charles grew to understand after picking up on a few choice bits of information from her mind. Still, she seemed nice enough, and she was happy to let Charles spend all the time he wanted examining her physical mutation- delicate wings that spanned her back.

After his brief meeting with The Hellfire Club a few days previously, Charles kept his mind open- telepathically speaking- searching for information on their whereabouts and activities at the camp. They were frustratingly aloof- no one had seen them since that first day; apparently they hadn’t moved from their base in the large cabins at the edge of camp. Charles was somewhat relieved in a way; Shaw made him feel uneasy, and he wasn’t exactly looking forward to seeing him again. But in some ways the uncertainty was worse- Shaw had said Charles could be very useful to him, and it was driving Charles to distraction not knowing exactly what he meant by that.

The most information he could garner on Shaw’s activities came from Remy. The red-eyed mutant was a frequent visitor to the cabin Charles shared with Anna Marie and Hank now; ever since Erik had made it clear that he didn’t care either way about the status of Remy’s relationship with Anna Marie. The development was capable of being very useful to Charles, as Remy was privy to more knowledge about the goings-on at the camp than anyone else he spent time with. And so, Charles decided to do all he could to bond with Remy- trying to get as close to him as possible in order to sweep for information. As with anyone else, physical contact seemed to be the best way to access thoughts and memories, though challenging Remy to an arm-wrestling contest proved to be somewhat of an embarrassment when Remy slammed Charles’ arm to the table in half a second…

Still, that half a second was enough to glean just a little bit of something useful from Remy- something about setting up two labs for Shaw in the outerbounds cabins, something about experimentation... Charles was confused- there was already a lab set up on site that he and Hank were using, why was there a need for more? He could only conclude that it was because, whatever Shaw was doing, he didn’t want to be disturbed.

Of course, the one person who would be able to provide Charles with the most answers to his questions was Erik, but Charles was treading a delicate line between remaining close to Erik so that he could gather information, but at the same time not wanting to get _too_ close. It was difficult though- Charles would go to Erik’s cabin every night, as instructed, and although they would converse easily enough it was pretty clear from Erik’s thoughts that the one thing he wanted most of all was Charles under him. Charles was pretty relieved when one day he noticed a chess set in Erik’s cabin- hidden under a pile of books. It turned out, Erik was almost as good of a player as Charles was, and the games gave Charles an opportunity to pry into Erik’s mind when his thoughts were relatively tempered, for once.

They were playing chess on one such evening; the room quiet save for the sounds of the lit fire slowly crackling beside them as they reclined on the floor in front of it- Erik sitting with crossed legs and Charles lying down on his stomach on the opposite side. Charles was skirting around the edge of Erik’s mind as they played- just pulling out surface thoughts and observations, without intrusion. Okay, so it was technically cheating to look into the mind of your opponent but, although Charles may have been trying to determine what Erik’s next move was, it wasn’t in regards to chess.

The sound of the phone ringing interrupted them- Erik rising from his position on the floor to go answer it whilst Charles watched him out of the corner of his eye. Erik sounded annoyed as he talked on the phone, answering curtly in monosyllabics, his brows coming together in a frown. Eventually he muttered: “Fine, fine- I’ll come”, before hanging up and looking over to Charles.

Charles was gazing up at Erik from his position lying on the floor, all attempts at pretending he wasn’t listening to Erik’s conversation gone. He was more than listening- trying fiercely to get a sense of what was happening from Erik’s mind, but coming up empty. Erik was annoyed, that’s all he knew- though Erik’s face told him that.

“Everything okay?” Charles asked eventually.

Erik sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand as he wandered over to Charles and sat down in the armchair in front of him.

“I need to go out”, Erik answered shortly.

“Where?”

“Nowhere important”.

“Okay… Where?”

Erik smiled at Charles. “You know this inquisitive nature of yours is only half-cute”, he replied. “That was Mystique on the phone passing on a message. It’s… Shaw. He wants to see me. He wants to… socialise”.

“You don’t exactly seem very thrilled with the concept”.

“Very astute- did you pick that up with your telepathy?”

“No… I got it from the sour look on your face whilst you were talking on the phone”.

Erik laughed. “Okay, you got me. I don’t like Shaw. I’d rather spend the evening here with you than with him, for obvious reasons…”

“If you don’t like Shaw then why are you letting him stay here?” Charles frowned.

“It’s… complicated, Charles. I can’t order him to leave just because I don’t like him very much. He’s invested a lot into The Brotherhood”.

“And what does he want in return?”

Erik let out an exasperated sound, standing up from the armchair and moving across the room. “Charles, please stop asking- I can’t tell you what you want to know”, he replied, coming to a stop by the door and gazing down at Charles. “You’re just going to have to trust me”.

A funny concept- trusting the man who was holding you hostage- but Charles managed to contain his laughter.

Charles got up from his position lying on the floor, straightening his clothing and moving towards the doorway, before Erik moved to block him.

“Where are you going?” Erik asked- placing a hand on Charles’ chest to stop him.

“Um, back to my cabin?”

Erik shook his head. “No, I’d like you to stay here”.

“Why?” Charles frowned.

“Just… because. I’d like to know you’re here waiting for me”.

Charles pulled a face, looking up at Erik in annoyance before Erik sighed and reached his hands to hold Charles’ face.

“Please, baby…” he murmured softly, stroking Charles’ jawline with his thumbs.

Charles flinched slightly- he wasn’t used to Erik calling him by an endearment, though he supposed of all the things Erik could do to him, calling him ‘baby’ probably wasn’t the worst.

Charles gave a barely perceptible nod- enough for Erik to smile in recognition before leaning down to press a brief kiss to Charles’ lips.

“Okay, please make yourself at home- I’ll be as quick as I can”, Erik said, sliding his hand to the back of Charles’ neck and pulling Charles close so he could place further kiss on his forehead. “Behave yourself”, he summarised, looking down at Charles for a second before loosening his hold and stepping away. He exited the cabin, and Charles was left alone.

So what to do with a night by yourself in the home of your jailer-slash-lover? Charles contemplated a million different things- rifling through Erik’s belongings, attempting to run away, setting up some sort of complex booby-trap system to knock Erik out as soon as he returned… In the end, Charles decided to just take a bath. He hadn’t had the opportunity since he’d first come to the camp, seen as all the communal shower block offered was- well- some very dingy showers. It would be nice to have just one evening to relax and unwind, for once…

Taking full advantage of the first real privacy he’d had in ages, Charles ran himself a bath and sank down into it- allowing the warm water to wash over him and caress his skin. He stayed in the tub for a long time, until he was so relaxed he actually began to fall asleep.

Rising from the bath begrudgingly, Charles dried off and changed into his pyjamas, before crawling into Erik’s bed and going to sleep.

 

 

 

Charles awoke some time later recognising that there was another presence in the room. There were two reasons for this- firstly, because he could sense another mind somewhere close, and secondly- because he could feel said person leaning over him, pressing into his back…

“Erik… What are you doing?” Charles mumbled sleepily, tilting his head slightly to look behind him.

Erik was kneeling over Charles- legs either side of him with his crotch resting against Charles’ ass- sliding his hands under Charles’ t-shirt as he traced his fingers gently over Charles’ back. Charles turned his head further, noticing that Erik was at least wearing his underwear, but not much else.

“You smell amazing…” Erik murmured, leaning over Charles and beginning to kiss along his neck. Erik’s scent was decidedly less amazing- Charles could smell the alcohol on his breath.

“I see you had a good time with Shaw?” Charles said sarcastically, debating whether to attempt to push Erik away or not.

“Ughh, don’t talk to me about that man”, Erik replied, pushing Charles’ shirt upwards and moving to place kisses all over Charles’ lower back. “He’s a pompous ass”, he murmured against Charles’ spine, “But he has good booze”.

Charles had never seen Erik drunk before. It was a strangely titillating experience, and not just because of the way Erik was rubbing against him… Charles didn’t know why, but suddenly Erik’s mind was more open to him than ever before- he could pick up on more vivid thoughts, though most of those seemed involve what Erik thought about the shape of Charles’ ass... Still, amongst the filth there was… memory. Erik’s memories of his meetings with Shaw, and the things they’d discussed.

Laying very still, Charles tried to concentrate as Erik continued to run his mouth all over Charles’ back. He pried into Erik’s mind gently- trying to make sure Erik didn’t notice- picking through abject thoughts and scattered recollections, looking for anything that might explain what Shaw was doing at the camp. It was hard, though, to get a hold on what he wanted when Erik’s mind was so clearly focused on other things, but Charles managed to at least get one clear thought, even if it didn’t quite make sense: Weapon X.

Charles had no idea what Weapon X was, but he was determined to find out. But first, he would have to contest with what Erik was determined to do…

Rolling off of Charles abruptly, Erik lay down next to him- lifting a hand to gently caress Charles’ hair as he looked at him. Charles had never felt this close to Erik before- Erik’s mind had never been so open, though his thoughts were of pulsing, vibrant, carnal desires, making it hard for Charles to see much else. He decided, then, that maybe it was worth just asking; maybe Erik’s liquored-up state would mean that he would be willing to part with more information than before.

“So what did you and Shaw talk about?” Charles asked, attempting to sound casual.

Erik frowned slightly. “You really don’t want to hear about my boring evening with Shaw, do you? There are much more interesting things we could be doing…”

Charles smiled but held up a hand to gently push Erik away as he tried to lean closer. “Yes, I do… I’d like to know what’s going on around camp, you know- what Shaw’s doing here, what his plans are…”

Erik withdrew his hand from Charles’ hair, looking over at him dubiously. “Why are you asking me about this?” he said softly.

This wasn’t working. Charles could feel Erik withdrawing in his own mind- putting walls up to hide the information he didn’t want to share, and Charles’ telepathy wasn’t strong enough yet to fight through it. The closeness that Charles had felt to Erik moments before was slipping away, and he needed to do something to get it back.

Charles sighed, looking down for a moment.

“You can fuck me if you want… I’m ready”, he whispered.

Erik didn’t say anything so Charles tilted his gaze up to him at last, expecting to see Erik looking excited or happy, but finding him perplexed and despondent instead. Clearly Charles wasn’t being very convincing…

Embracing a momentary surge of courage- and desperation- Charles reached forward abruptly, grabbing Erik by the hair and kissing him firmly. He used his weight to push Erik onto his back, rolling on top of him and lying with his legs either side of Erik’s. Erik responded as last- sliding his arms along Charles’ back under his t-shirt and squeezing him in an embrace.

Ah- there it was. The feeling of Erik’s mind opening again, only a little, but enough to give Charles hope. He could work with this.

Charles lifted his head away from Erik, looking down at him slightly breathlessly.

“I assume you have lube?”

Erik nodded- leaning to reach into his bedside table and retrieving a small bottle. Charles snatched it from Erik’s hand and climbed off of him, walking briskly over to the bathroom and closing himself inside before Erik could protest.

_“Oh shit oh God oh crap oh no…”_ Charles was staring at himself in the mirror, coming to terms with what he’d just offered to Erik, and what he was about to do. It seemed like such a stupid, crazy idea- something Charles couldn’t have imagined doing when he first came to the camp weeks ago- but given his current set of circumstances it really did seem like the best plan.

_“You can do this”_ , Charles told himself as he popped the lid off the bottle of lube and began to squeeze some into his palm. He rested the bottle on the sink before pulling his pyjama bottoms down and getting to work. Charles hadn’t had sex for a while- with a man or otherwise- so he had the feeling that this was about to be pretty uncomfortable, particularly given the impressive size of Erik’s cock. The only really logical thing to do was get as lubed as possible, to ensure minimum discomfort.

Sometime later, Charles was feeling as ready as he thought he possibly could be.

Pulling up his pyjama bottoms, but removing his shirt as an afterthought, Charles opened the bathroom door and stepped outside. The sight before him was very sobering- Erik, completely naked, sitting on the edge of the bed and slowly stroking his cock. Fuck. This was really happening.

Charles paused for a second as Erik looked over at him and ceased his motions between his legs, before Charles took a deep breath and began to step tentatively over to the bed. Erik reached out a hand to him, looking like he wanted to pull Charles into his lap, but Charles ignored him- simply pulling his pyjama bottoms off and crawling onto the bed on all fours.

Charles remained naked on his hands and knees on the bed, staring straight down, trying not to shake, trying not to panic. Erik hadn’t moved much, other than following Charles with his eyes as he’d taken up residence on the bed. Eventually though Charles could feel Erik stand up from the bed before kneeling on the mattress just behind him. Then… nothing. Much like the face-fucking incident Erik was being cautious, and this time Charles decided it would be better not to goad him- particularly as he was currently in a very vulnerable position. Instead, Charles waited- feeling incredibly exposed and shy- trying to be patient, before dropping his head down eventually to try and look between his legs to see what was happening. Apparently nothing was- Erik was kneeling behind him, very close, but not moving, and his mind was very hard to read.

Just when Charles was about to cave in to his base instinct and ask Erik what the fuck was going on he felt Erik edge closer- his hand coming to rest on Charles’ lower back carefully. There was a pause, and then the first press of Erik’s cock against Charles’ entrance killed any questions Charles might have had.

Charles tensed immediately, which wasn’t very useful considering he knew he needed to be as relaxed as possible for what was to come. Erik was giving him time though- running his hand over Charles’ lower back like he was trying to soothe him, whilst keeping the head of his member braced against Charles’ ass. The tension made Charles feel like he could scream, but in the end it was something else entirely that made him cry out.

Erik pushed forward at last- driving his cock into Charles’ slowly and purposefully. Charles let out a whimper as he felt Erik’s thick shaft slide along his insides- the intensity of it making Charles involuntarily edge away- arms giving out as he crumpled forward into the bed. Erik followed him though, holding onto Charles’ waist with both hands and pressing Charles down into the mattress until his cock was completely buried.

There was a low groan from Erik as he came to a stop, holding onto Charles’ waist firmly but not moving, whilst Charles lay with his face pressed down into the pillow, breathing hard and trying to adjust to the stretch of Erik’s cock inside him.

“Still with me, Charles?” Erik murmured in strained tones, rubbing his thumbs along Charles’ back as he held him. Charles couldn’t speak, he knew that much, but he at least managed a slight nod, giving Erik the encouragement he needed to continue.

Erik withdrew his cock, the slide of it making Charles whimper again as Erik pulled almost all of the way out before pushing back in; setting up his pace. The sex mirrored their previous intimacy- Erik moving carefully and methodically; testing Charles’ limits, trying to edge him into it gently. It wasn’t what Charles had expected, or wanted…

Charles had envisioned Erik just ploughing into him- losing himself in the act and focusing on little more than getting himself off, but it was nothing like that. Erik wasn’t just trying to fuck Charles; he was trying to engage with him- to make it enjoyable for the both of them. He varied pace and pressure, holding onto Charles and grinding his hips as he pushed inside, leaning down eventually and sliding his arms under Charles as he started to kiss along Charles’ upper back and shoulders. Charles had planned to just lie back and think of England, but instead he was having to fight to control every little hitch and moan that threatened to escape him, because he couldn’t let Erik know if he was enjoying this- he’d already given up so much, he couldn’t give him that.

Problem was, not only was Erik’s body doing everything possible to make Charles respond, his mind was too. Every one of Erik’s thoughts revolved around Charles- just a constant whirl of: _“Is Charles okay? Am I hurting him? Is he enjoying this? Is he bored?”_ It was dizzying, and it took everything Charles had to just keep his face pressed down into the pillow and remain perfectly still, even as Erik used his knees to push Charles’ legs further apart so he could sink in deeper.

After what felt like a lifetime Erik was close to finishing- his movements becoming forced and irregular before he thrust forward one final time with a trembling groan. Charles screwed up his face as he felt Erik come inside of him, biting his lip and trying not to make a sound as Erik leaned over afterwards- pressing a clumsy kiss to the back of Charles’ neck before withdrawing at last.

Charles waited until Erik had rolled over onto his side of the bed before jumping up immediately- walking briskly over to the bathroom, trying to ignore the slight pain in his ass, before locking himself inside.

The bath earlier had been comfort; a shower now was pure necessity. Charles turned on the shower quickly, stepping inside even though the water was still freezing cold- letting the icy blast cascade over him, allowing it to wash away the evidence of everything that he had allowed to happen.

Charles was shaking more after he got out of the shower than when he’d first gotten in, now from the cold as well as the stress of what had happened. And what made it worse was there was nowhere to go now- nowhere but back to Erik; back into his bed.

Fumbling through the bathroom cupboards, Charles located another set of pyjamas- pulling them on briskly and even wrapping up in a cosy jumper, though it didn’t stop the shaking. He turned to leave the room, but stopped abruptly when there was a light tap on the door.

Even without opening the door, Charles could sense Erik waiting outside. He could feel his mind- full of questions and uncertainty and worry. Charles didn’t want to go outside and face him, but there was really no other option.

Charles opened the door to find Erik looking down at him- dressed in pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt, but also wearing a look of concern. It was now the middle of the night, and Charles was feeling tired, worn, and a great deal embarrassed, and he really didn’t want to hear any part of whatever Erik was about to say to him.

Pushing past Erik, Charles crossed the room and crawled onto the bed, lying face down and pulling the covers over himself- all the way over his head. He remained that way- not moving- as he felt Erik cross the room and tentatively climb into the bed, keeping to his side, mercifully.

It was a long time before Charles fell asleep that night.


	7. Chapter 7

 

 

Getting information from Erik turned out to be very easy, and very hard- depending on how you looked at it.

Proximity was the key to Charles being able to use his telepathy these days, given that his powers were dampened by the cuff on his wrist. It was something that Charles had known for a while, but when it came to Erik that didn’t just mean leaning close or laying a hand on his arm whilst they talked. No, proximity meant Charles spreading his legs, and often…

It was inevitable, really. Ever since that first night when Charles had allowed Erik to fuck him, a line had been crossed, and Charles knew that Erik was expecting more of the same. Charles went to Erik’s cabin every night, as instructed, and they would talk and play chess, but Charles always knew that Erik wanted something else- that he was aching to get his hands on Charles from the second Charles walked through the door.

And so, they would fuck. Charles usually readied himself before joining Erik and crawling onto the bed, bending over and just waiting for Erik to take what he wanted. It wasn’t really that simple though- indeed, nothing about Charles’ arrangement with Erik was. Erik clearly had some very different ideas about the nature of their ‘relationship’; not content with just greedily fucking Charles, trying instead to engage with him, to embrace him- almost like he was trying to make love to him. Of course, Erik never actually came out and said that he wanted something more, but Charles could feel Erik’s disappointment every time he turned over and presented his back. Erik tried a few times to have Charles in a different position, to get Charles to let him slide his cock inside whilst they were face to face, but Charles always rolled away before Erik could get anywhere.

It was a trying situation, but Charles was dealing with it. He would lay down with his face pressed into the mattress as Erik ranged over him, using the opportunity to carefully pick through Erik’s mind- searching for information about Shaw and The Hellfire Club and what they were planning at the camp- trying not to think about the intense drag of Erik’s member sliding into him, ignoring the sweet way Erik would place kisses along every part of Charles’ body he could reach… Of course, Charles tried his best to control exactly which parts of his body Erik could gain access to- never letting Erik anywhere near his cock, for example, although Erik tried more than once. He could feel it in Erik’s mind too- Erik spent more time than Charles would have expected imagining himself on his knees in front of Charles, daydreaming about making Charles moan using his hands and lips and tongue…

Erik looked so calm for someone thinking such dirty things- sitting in an armchair sipping tea, gazing intently over at where Charles was sat back on the sofa attempting to read a book but breathing heavily as Erik’s mind gave him a very specific visual of what Erik wanted to do to him. Charles couldn’t allow that though, not ever. Just like he couldn’t allow himself to come when Erik fucked him, no matter how good it felt.

Sometimes, though, that was a near-impossible mission. Erik liked to make things very, very difficult for Charles, given the opportunity. On the one very ill-advised occasion when Charles had allowed Erik to prep him for sex, Erik had immediately made a beeline for Charles’ prostate- stroking it mercilessly with his fingers as Charles shuddered and tried to crawl away on the mattress, before Erik slid his other hand to Charles’ shoulder to keep him in place. Charles tried to say no, tried to tell Erik to stop, but all that came out was a frantic moan as Erik worked his magic; Charles despairing as his cock grew heavy between his legs. Eventually Charles managed to reach behind him, grasping at Erik’s arm frantically and digging his fingernails in, which Erik apparently took as a sign of encouragement before Charles managed to huff out a strangled: “STOP”.

Erik stopped, but he didn’t remove his fingers.

“What’s wrong, Charles? You don’t like it?”

That wasn’t the point.

“Just… don’t”, Charles panted.

Erik withdrew at last, sliding his fingers out of Charles but moving his member forward to press inside instead. It was something, Charles supposed, that Erik had at least ceased when he’d asked him to, but the damage had already been done. Charles lay flat on the bed, resting his head on his folded arms, trying to mentally compose himself as Erik’s cock attempted to finish what his fingers had started. Charles was achingly hard; his member rubbing against the mattress as Erik thrust into him, making Charles bite his lip as his toes curled in response to Erik’s motions.

It was a long time to hold out, especially as Erik seemed determined to make this session as slow and languorous as possible- but Charles managed it, barely. Erik came at last, gripping Charles’ waist enduringly as he pulsed into him, groaning helplessly. Charles waited until Erik withdrew and moved away finally before sliding off the bed and running to the bathroom. His nightly showers were ritual now- necessary to cleanse Charles of what he’d done with Erik, but this particular shower gave Charles another kind of release. Stepping under the hot stream of water, Charles slid his hand down to his aching cock- only needing a few tense tugs before he came at last, the sense of relief all-consuming as he leaned against the wall of the shower, trying to catch his breath. He only hoped Erik hadn’t heard him.

After that, Charles didn’t let Erik prep him again- no matter how many times Erik insisted he would do it how Charles wanted. But that’s not to say Erik didn’t have other ways of attempting to get closer to Charles.

Like most people, Charles was vulnerable when he slept- and sleeping in the bed of the man who was holding you hostage put Charles in an especially precarious position. Charles wasn’t worried about Erik trying to fuck him whilst he was asleep though, he was worried about other forms of intimacy.

Every night Charles would fall asleep resting on his stomach with his face turned away from Erik, and almost every night Erik would edge closer- wrapping his arm around Charles, trying to pull Charles into an embrace. Most times Charles would wake up fully when it happened and push Erik off or crawl away, but sometimes he was just too tired or maybe he found he just didn’t want to fight it for once. On one of those occasions Charles lingered in semi-consciousness as Erik slid his hands around Charles’ waist and pulled him over to his side of the bed; rolling onto his back and bringing Charles with him so that Charles lay on top. Charles protested weakly, squirming in Erik’s grasp but not really getting anywhere as Erik shushed him and only wrapped his arms more firmly around Charles’ back. Defeated, Charles rested his head against Erik’s chest and closed his eyes, enjoying the security of the embrace and not really thinking about all the reasons why he shouldn’t be feeling content in Erik’s arms.

But when Charles woke up the next morning reality was sobering. Charles couldn’t remember what he had been dreaming about, all he knew was that it must have been pretty interesting, given that his cock was now standing to full attention.

Charles cracked his eyes open slowly, beyond-mortified at the realisation, hoping to just roll off of Erik and scurry off to the bathroom before Erik woke up. No such luck though.

Charles pushed himself up with his arms to find Erik already awake, and already looking back at him. Charles froze for a moment- mind whirring as he tried to decide what to do, wondering if there was a chance Erik hadn’t noticed his state of arousal- although it was pretty darn obvious. But the grin that slowly spread across Erik’s face told Charles that he was most definitely aware.

“Good morning, Charles”, Erik murmured. “I see you slept well”.

A flush crept into Charles face before he abruptly attempted to slide off of Erik, only succeeding in edging slightly over before Erik followed and rolled on top of him.

“Get off me”, Charles whined, trying to wriggle out from under Erik.

“Are you sure that’s what you really want?” Erik asked, “Because it seems like you enjoyed being close to me last night…” He leaned closer, before whispering in Charles’ ear: “I don’t suppose you’re ready to change your mind and let me blow you?”

Charles shut his eyes in embarrassment, mentally cursing Erik. Oh God the release such an act would allow… Charles’ mind toyed with the idea, not even needing to imagine what it would be like as Erik had already filled in the blanks on more than one occasion. He couldn’t deny that the idea of it was appealing, and his hard member certainly wasn’t making any protest, but like always Charles couldn’t allow himself to fully give in to Erik- to the situation he found himself in. He would never stop fighting for his freedom, and that meant fighting Erik too every step of the way.

“No… no, I don’t want to. Please, just let me go”, Charles begged, still keeping his eyes squeezed tightly shut. He couldn’t allow Erik to do that, it would make things far too complicated somehow.

Although he may have been a manipulative prick, Erik was at least able to respect some of the limitations that Charles tried to put in place. After a quick flash of emotion which Charles registered as disappointment, Erik climbed off Charles and allowed him to leave the bed.

After that particular incident, Charles found himself trying to think of more inventive ways to get close to Erik- without needing to put his body on the line.

Charles remembered the first night he had slept with Erik- when Erik had been drunk and had lay next to Charles, his mind unusually relaxed and open for the first time. Maybe alcohol would be the way to get the information that Charles so desperately wanted…

Erik had been surprised when Charles suggested it, but Charles could tell he was excited too. Charles was sitting on the floor in front of the fire at the time, dressed in pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt, watching Erik expectantly.

“You want to play a drinking game…” Erik said slowly, leaning forward in the armchair he resided in, looking down at Charles in mild curiosity.

“Yeah… You don’t want to?”

“I didn’t say that… I’m just… surprised”, Erik finished eventually. “What game?”

“Have you ever played ‘I Have Never’?”

“Can’t say I have… How does it work?”

“It’s very simple- you say something you haven’t done, and if the other person has done it- they have to drink”.

Erik smiled, a grin slowly spreading over his face as he watched Charles. “You know, a game like this… it sounds like I could end up gaining access to all of those secret parts of yourself that you try to keep hidden”.

Charles knew that- he was prepared to give up some small aspects of his past to Erik, if necessary. But what he was more interested in was what Erik would divulge to him- both given willingly through conscious revelation and taken secretly through subconscious exploration.

“Erik, do you want to play or not?”

Erik leaned back in his chair, regarding Charles carefully for a moment. “Okay”, he answered at last, standing up and moving across the room. “Whiskey or wine?”

Charles preferred wine, but the objective was to get Erik as drunk as possible, so spirits were probably the best bet.

“Whiskey”, Charles replied, reaching his hand out to accept the glass Erik passed down to him. Erik brought the bottle with him, coming to sit cross-legged on the floor in front of Charles, unscrewing the bottle and pouring Charles a generous glass before he filled his own.

“Why don’t you start”, Erik offered.

It was easy to make Erik drink. All Charles had to do was offer statements like “I have never kidnapped anyone” and “I have never killed a man”, and Erik would frown slightly and tip his glass. Of course, Erik had a few choice observations about Charles too… Using phrases like “I have never used my intelligence to get someone into bed” was a bit lazy, but Charles supposed no more deliberate than he had been.

In time, though, Erik’s method of questioning changed. He shifted from just trying to get Charles to drink, to seemingly trying to connect with him- to share and exchange information.

“I have never watched my parents die”, Erik said, watching Charles carefully.

Charles blanched, blue eyes growing wide as he stared at Erik, who in turn regarded him solemnly. It was close, but not quite right…

Charles shook his head, before Erik lifted his glass and took a long drink, staring down at the ground. He lifted his gaze back to Charles eventually, and Charles could see the sadness in his eyes; feel the sorrow in his mind.

“What happened?” Charles whispered. He didn’t mean to- he’d been trying so hard to keep from letting his relationship with Erik go any deeper, but suddenly he couldn’t help himself.

“I told you before that Trask wasn’t the first person to attempt to exterminate mutants. I know this… because I’ve had first-hand experience of that fact”.

Erik leaned forward, coming to rest one hand gently on Charles’ knee as he continued.

“I assume you’ve heard of ‘Project: Wideawake’?” Erik asked.

Charles nodded, suddenly feeling incredibly heartsick and hopeless as he watched Erik; the pain bleeding from Erik’s mind washing over him.

It was a government programme, established initially with the aim in mind of preparing humanity to deal with the mutant ‘threat’. Preparation didn’t last long… Ran by Colonel William Stryker, the project soon took on another aim entirely: total and utter destruction of the mutant race. They built sentinels- vast metallic robots that they used to round up mutants and their families; forcing them into holding facilities. Mutants were kept in captivity for a while, often abused and experimented on. Charles was very young when it had happened, but he remembered watching it on the news in horror.

“You were captured?” Charles asked eventually.

Erik nodded. “They came to my home one night and took me and my family away. They kept me locked in a plastic room; helpless. I didn’t know what was happening to my parents- I didn’t even know why they took them at all, considering they weren’t actually mutants”.

“But they carried the gene”, Charles ratified.

“Yes, and apparently that meant they deserved to die… It happened right in front of me. There was an uprising- some mutant took back control; from what I heard they couldn’t kill him, and he made a pretty good go of it- taking apart the sentinels with his bare hands, or claws, some people said. The defences of the compound must have been shutdown because my makeshift prison opened, and I left in search of my parents”.

Erik looked away, trembling slightly. “I found them… just in time to see them get cut down by one of the sentinels. I tried to save them- I used my powers to pull that sentinel to pieces- but it was too late. They were killed instantly”.

Erik lapsed back into silence, staring down at his hand where it rested against Charles’ knee, his thumb tracing the area gently.

Now it all made sense. Erik’s devotion to mutant supremacy. His scepticism about humanity. His blinding anger and rage.

Charles understood it all. It was not something he could ever condone- it was not something he could excuse, but he could see how living through something so terrible could change you irrevocably.

“I’m sorry about your parents”, Charles said softly, and Erik looked back up to meet his gaze.

“There’s a ‘but’ after that, isn’t there?” Erik said, smiling thinly. “You’re sorry, but it doesn’t excuse what I’ve done. It doesn’t excuse the monster I’ve become”.

Clearly, Erik understood Charles better than he knew.

Charles looked away, flustered and confused, fingers tracing around the rim of the glass in his hands. He felt Erik’s hands move to his jawline, tilting Charles’ face back so that he gazed into Erik’s intense eyes.

“It’s okay, Charles”, Erik murmured. “I’m not asking you to accept me, or what I’ve done. I know that we’re from two different worlds. I just want you to know… that I think I understand you. I understand the value that you place on all life- mutant and otherwise. And… I’m trying to respect that. I’m trying to be a better man, for you”.

Charles frowned softly, not quite understanding what Erik was offering.

“I’m talking about the camp, Charles”, Erik clarified, apparently reading Charles’ expression. “I don’t want to do it anymore- not the way it is now. I want to help my fellow mutants, not keep them prisoner. I want to train them, like you do. I want to work with you”.

Well, this was certainly unexpected. Charles had planned to get Erik all liquored up and use Erik’s diminished state to get information about the camp- specifically Shaw, and what he was up to. He hadn’t expected Erik to offer him something else entirely. Frankly, it all sounded so implausible…

“You would shut down the camp?” Charles asked cautiously.

“Yes, eventually…”

Ah, there it was. Erik wasn’t offering Charles anything, not really. He was only hinting- essentially telling Charles what he wanted to hear. That had to be it.

Charles huffed out a noise of disgust, pulling his face abruptly out of Erik’s hands.

“Bullshit. You really expect me to believe that you’d topple your magical kingdom, just like that?”

“Well, no, Charles- not just like that”, Erik replied, looking annoyed. “It’s not that simple, there’s more at stake here than you know”.

“Whatever”, Charles muttered, glaring up at Erik. “I have never made fake-ass promises that I can’t keep. Your turn to drink, Erik”.

Erik let out a long sigh. “You want to play, Charles?” he huffed. “Fine. I have never pretended not to enjoy having sex with someone, when really I liked it”.

Charles felt a flush rise in his cheeks. “This game is about real truth, Erik, not about the things that you’d like to be true”.

“Oh right, of course- my mistake”, Erik replied, smirking slightly. “You know, you can lie to yourself all you want, Charles, you can turn your back and hide from me, but I’ve had enough sex to know when someone is _feeling_ what I’m giving them. You can pretend that you’re just going through the motions, but those sweet little moans that you try to muffle tell a different story”.

Charles looked away, feeling hot and shaky as Erik’s eyes continued to rake over him.

“You’re wrong”, Charles grumbled. Erik had to be wrong.

“Prove it then. Stop hiding. Let me fuck you how I want. Let me see your face. Let me make you come”.

“No…” Charles muttered, glaring hotly at Erik. “That won’t prove anything, other than the fact that you’re needy as fuck”.

Charles felt the annoyance that flashed through Erik’s mind, even before he saw it on his face.

Erik moved quickly, pushing Charles backwards and climbing on top of him, ignoring the glasses of whiskey that went spilling to the floor as Erik pinned Charles down. Charles protested, pressing his hands against Erik’s chest and trying to push him away, but Erik just held Charles down by his forearms, restraining Charles’ lower body as he sat over his stomach.

“Erik, get off me”, Charles huffed, struggling under Erik’s weight.

“No, Charles, not yet. You still owe me a demonstration”.

Charles didn’t like the sound of that.

“What do you want, Erik?” Charles said, regretting the words almost as soon as they were out. He knew what Erik wanted, and he didn’t want to hear it again.

“I’m not a heartless man, Charles… I’ll give you a choice. Hands or mouth”.

Okay, so not exactly what Charles had been expecting, but still not what he wanted to hear.

Charles must have been pulling a confused face, as Erik felt the need to clarify:

“I can respect your boundaries, Charles, more or less… but I still want something more from you. If you won’t let me fuck you properly, then I guess I’ll just have to have all the fun on my own. But I still want to see your face- I want to be able to look into your eyes as I come”.

Charles closed his eyes involuntarily, hating how vulnerable he felt when Erik was around. He kept them closed as he sensed Erik shift- lifting off of Charles, removing his clothing… He felt Erik sit back down again, felt Erik’s hard cock come to rest against his stomach over his clothing…

“Hands or mouth, Charles”, Erik repeated.

Charles cracked open his eyes- looking only at Erik’s face, ignoring the other parts of him... Erik was watching him, eyes dilated with passion, hair falling in his face slightly.

Inhaling a deep breath, Charles placed his hands on Erik’s bare thighs.

“You might want to take your shirt off first…” Erik suggested.

Charles scowled in return, but he allowed Erik to reach down and pull his t-shirt off, flinching slightly when Erik settled once more and his member brushed against the bare skin of Charles’ stomach.

“Well, come on, Charles- don’t be shy…” Erik was still watching Charles, a slight smile playing across his face as he looked down at him.

Charles sighed, pursed his lips, reached for Erik’s cock... His eyes moved down to Erik’s waist, deciding to just focus on what he was doing- focus on the handjob, like it was just some anonymous body- not some tyrant who was holding him hostage.

Erik responded to him easily, moaning softly as Charles worked up to a rhythm, resting his hands against Charles’ bare chest. The act was very impersonal to Charles- he moved his wrist briskly, trying to just get Erik off as quickly as possible, not really attempting to make it a particularly affectionate experience. Impersonal or not, the result was the same. Before long Erik was close- breathing heavily and groaning as Charles worked him up to it. Still, Erik wasn’t about to just let Charles get it over with that easily.

“Charles… Look at me”, Erik commanded, sounding strained.

Charles didn’t want to- he _really_ didn’t want to, but he had a feeling that, if he didn’t comply, then Erik would only ask him to do something else, and that might be much worse.

Snapping his gaze up to look at Erik, Charles locked eyes as he gave Erik’s cock a few final strokes, watching Erik’s face tense with pleasure as he shot his load- coating Charles’ chest and stomach with the residue. Charles let go as soon as possible, dropping his hands to the floor and closing his eyes.

Charles almost smiled- almost- but he couldn’t afford to let Erik know what had just happened...

That moment of Erik’s release- when Erik’s defences had been at their lowest- Charles had looked into his eyes, and stepped into his mind.

And now he knew what Shaw was planning.

 

 

 

Charles didn’t know what his next move was- he wasn’t sure he even had one. Ever since he’d first come to the camp Charles had just been living day-to-day; just trying to survive. Now though, he had vital information- he knew what Shaw was doing at the camp, he just didn’t know how to deal with it.

One thing was for sure though- whatever Charles was planning, he couldn’t do it alone.

Telling Hank was still out of the question. Charles wanted badly to confide in his best friend; to tell Hank everything that had been going on with Shaw and Erik and the cuff, but he didn’t want to put him in danger. That ruled Anna Marie out too- she was someone Charles had grown close to in the previous weeks, and he couldn’t risk her life.

No, it seemed like what Charles needed, was a man who couldn’t die…

It was early when Charles knocked on Logan’s door. Erik had walked Charles back to his cabin that morning; kissing him on the cheek like he always did and telling Charles that he would see him later, before walking away. Charles had waited until Erik had moved out of sight before sprinting off down the path towards Logan’s residence. He figured he had maybe an hour or two before he was due at the lab to start working with Hank- that Hank would probably just assume Charles was spending the morning with Erik, and wouldn’t ask questions afterwards.

There was a low grunt from inside the cabin that Charles took as a sign to enter. Opening the door, Charles stepped into the dingy room to find Logan sitting back in an armchair- regarding Charles indifferently.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting to see you...” Logan said suspiciously. “I figured you’d be busy banging your boyfriend at this time of the morning”.

Not funny. Charles glared down at Logan, before Logan’s expression broke and he let out a laugh.

“Oh come on, bub- lighten up a little. He can’t be that bad of a lay, right?”

Charles was very close to just telling Logan to go fuck himself and storming out of the cabin, but he knew that bigger things were at stake here than his own pride.

“Logan… I need your help”, Charles said eventually.

That certainly got Logan’s attention, though he didn’t say anything- he just raised his eyebrows at Charles and waited for him to continue.

Charles summarised, as much as he could. He told Logan about Erik and the influence Charles seemed to have on him- leaving out the more salacious details of their relationship, of course. He told Logan about the cuff and Version B of the drug, and how Charles was beginning to get his telepathy back at diminished capacity. He told Logan about Shaw and The Hellfire Club, and what little he’d seen of them.

That really piqued Logan’s interest.

“Shaw?” Logan asked. “That’s what the guy said his name was?”

“Yeah… why? Does that mean something to you?”

Logan pulled an irritated face. “I got into a bit of trouble, several years back. Some bad shit went down. After I got out I looked into what had happened- trying to get some payback, you know? It was a government project, but there was a company that was involved in it all as well, and I found out the name: Shaw Industries”.

“You think it’s the same Shaw?”

“Hard to say- it happened over twenty years ago, but it’s possible…”

Logan trailed off, frowning suddenly. “You said you found out what Shaw is doing here at the camp- what is it?” he asked eventually.

“It’s a genetic research project”, Charles replied. “Shaw plans to use the mutants here at the camp to experiment on. He wants to enhance their abilities; to turn them into living weapons. Apparently they call it Weapon X”.

Logan’s mouth parted slightly, looking at Charles in dread and what Charles could almost interpret as fear.

“This is bad…” Logan said at last. “This is a hell of a mess you’ve stumbled on, kid”.

“Yes, I gathered that. But I guess we won’t know how bad it is until we go take a look”.

“No…” Logan shook his head. “I already know. That trouble I mentioned getting into before? Weapon X started there. Back then it was a guy called Stryker in charge, but it was the same deal- mutant experimentation; trying to turn us into something more. For me, that something was a layer of adamantium that they added to my skeleton”.

Charles was watching Logan as he spoke; half-listening and half-remembering, thinking about what Erik had told him the night before. Mutants being captured… Stryker… a man who couldn’t be killed fighting back.

There was a connection here- Erik and Logan knew each other, Charles just didn’t know if either of them knew that. But then he remembered what Logan had said to him on his first day at the camp- about Erik not wanting to kill Logan; telling him instead that they were both survivors…

“Logan, how much of that- what happened with the original Weapon X- do you remember? You’d have to have been pretty young, right?”

“Guess again, Chuck”, Logan smirked. “Another miraculous aspect of my mutation- I don’t age. I’ll be this handsome forever”.

Maybe that explained it- Erik would have been little more than child when it happened; it was unlikely Logan would recognise him now, but if Logan hadn’t aged a day…

This was all very fascinating, but Charles didn’t really know what to do with the information. All he did know was that Shaw was experimenting on mutants- probably right now- and he needed to do something to stop it.

“We should go”, Charles said at last. “I know where Shaw is based- we can go sneak a look at what he’s up to”.

Logan frowned. “Do you really think that’s wise? Hey, don’t get me wrong- I’m all for running into a situation fists first, but are you? Is your telepathy strong enough for you to defend yourself?”

“No…” Charles replied gloomily. “I don’t think I could even give someone a headache right now”.

“Well, then maybe the offensive method isn’t the best way to go. You said that Magneto listens to you, right? That he told you he wanted to close down the camp? Well I’d suggest you work on that- use him to get what you want”.

Charles pulled a face. “You’ve suggested that all along, but I don’t think you understand quite what that entails…”

Logan grinned briefly. “Believe me, bub, I think I can imagine… Magneto adores you- that much is obvious, but he’s also a demanding prick, so I’m sure he’s not opposed to being aggressive in his affections. I’m sure it’s… difficult. But if it means your freedom, aren’t you willing to fight through it?”

Charles paused, thinking that Logan had summed up the situation pretty well. He also thought that Logan was probably right- that there was little point in running into a potentially hazardous scenario unprepared.

And so, there was nothing for Charles to do but to go back into Erik’s arms, once again.


	8. Chapter 8

 

 

When it came to Charles, Erik was insatiable.

Ever since Charles had first met Erik he had known that he wasn’t exactly a patient man. Erik was direct. He knew what he wanted, and he wasn’t afraid of doing whatever he deemed necessary to get it. Of course, when it came to his ‘relationship’ with Charles, things were a little bit different.

He didn’t just take with Charles, not really. Erik let Charles set the pace for their arrangement- he let Charles be the one to decide what they did, and when- more or less. This meant that, more often than not, Charles and Erik spent their evenings doing rather tame activities- playing chess or cards, talking quietly together. Charles was surprised to find that he actually somewhat enjoyed Erik’s company during those occasions- something that he never would have imagined possible when he’d first come to the camp.

What Charles also hadn’t anticipated was Erik’s willingness to let Charles use his telepathy on him. Whilst Erik still worked hard to ensure Charles couldn’t see certain information- like anything about Shaw for example- he was, however, happy to let Charles look through rather more personal memories from his past. Charles was reluctant at first- still trying to keep a distance between himself and Erik, in spite of how hopelessly entwined their lives now were. But eventually he relented, and one evening he and Erik sat together in front of the fire- gazing into each other’s eyes in soft focus as Charles skimmed through Erik’s childhood memories.

It was hard to maintain control and balance for Charles, given that his powers were stunted by the cuff on his wrist- but Charles could feel Erik holding him inside his own mind, offering support and guidance. The experience was profound, and only served to make Charles even more confused about his growing and mixed feelings towards Erik.

Amongst the chess games, conversations, and telepathic excursions- there was still sex. Charles used their intimacies as an opportunity to get close to Erik when his guard was down; to pry into his mind undetected. At least, that seemed like the reason... But although Charles gave himself up to Erik most nights, he still continued to try to keep himself from growing too close to Erik, and allowing the lines of their relationship to get blurred. Erik was getting what he wanted from Charles, more or less, but that’s not to say that Erik was always happy with the ways things were between them. In fact, in time, it became more and more obvious that Erik wasn’t completely satisfied.

Erik always wanted more. He was never content with what he had. Charles supposed that was due in some part to the fact that he was holding back so much; still trying to keep Erik at a safe distance. But it didn’t seem to be working anymore…

“Charles, turn over”, Erik demanded.

It was the same argument they’d had the past two nights. Charles was lying on his stomach on the bed, naked, fiddling with the bottle of lube he held in his hands, preparing for Erik to fuck him. Erik should have been thrilled- this was exactly what he wanted, right? Apparently not.

“Turn. Over”, Erik repeated, reaching a hand down to grab at Charles’ side in an attempt to nudge him onto his back.

“Don’t touch me”, Charles replied hotly, turning to the side to glare up at Erik. Erik scowled in return, looking down at Charles in irritation as he sat kneeling on the bed to the side of him.

“I can’t keep doing this, Charles. I can’t keep fucking you while you just lie there under me like some kind of dead weight. How am I supposed to know if you’re okay? Or if I’m hurting you?”

“If it’s such a problem we can stop doing this anytime- I’m perfectly happy for this arrangement to come to an end, just say the word”.

“Is that all this is to you?” Erik huffed, “An arrangement?”

“What else would it be, Erik?” Charles replied. “Have I not made it perfectly clear from the beginning that I despise you?”

It was a low blow, it wasn’t true, and it was a statement that Charles would live to regret uttering.

Erik’s expression turned cold and menacing, though Charles could tell from Erik’s mind that above all he was simply hurt.

“Have it your way, then…” Erik muttered, moving to take up his position behind Charles.

Erik grasped Charles roughly on the hips, moving forward and driving his cock inside in one swift motion. Charles cried out- he wasn’t ready, in fact he was barely lubed, and it hurt. And perhaps that was Erik’s point, because with Charles facing away from him how was he supposed to know that Charles was in pain, particularly when Charles was too proud to say anything.

Charles pressed his face into the pillow, whimpering slightly as Erik plunged into him, just waiting for it to be over. Charles supposed that to Erik it was no different than their previous encounters- Charles just lying prone underneath him, trying not to make a sound- the only difference was that on this occasion he was trying not to cry rather than moan. Charles could tell from Erik’s thoughts that he wasn’t actually trying to hurt him though, but he was frustrated and dejected, and it made him careless.

Eventually Erik finished, letting out a groan that sounded more pained than anything else, holding onto Charles for a moment before moving to the side off of him. This would normally be the moment when Charles rolled off the bed and scurried to the bathroom, but he couldn’t. His backside was throbbing, and so he remained still- just lying with his face pressed down, and trembling.

Erik looked over at Charles questioningly, clearly wondering why Charles hadn’t retreated to the bathroom already. Then he saw the wetness that had amassed along the line of Charles’ closed eyelids and he seemed to understand.

“Charles, oh God- I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Erik stuttered, reaching to grasp Charles gently on the shoulder. The touch was all Charles needed to bring him back to life- pulling himself up abruptly and attempting to turn away from Erik, but Erik wouldn’t let him go. He was projecting worry and regret as he tried to turn Charles to look at himself, but it was the last thing Charles wanted.

“Get the fuck off me!” Charles shouted- pushing Erik away roughly, causing him to fall sideways off the bed. Charles jumped off the other side- rushing over to the bathroom at last and locking himself inside, not bothering to look back to see if Erik had picked himself up off the ground yet.

Charles turned on the shower, waiting for the water to turn warm before climbing inside. He cleaned himself vigorously but carefully, wincing every time he felt a twinge of pain, awash in a sea of despair. It was too much to deal with- Charles had been at the camp for weeks now, held against his will, coerced into sleeping with someone against his wishes. He just wanted out.

Climbing out of the shower, Charles grabbed a towel and dried himself off- locating some pyjamas and pulling them on afterwards. He put on a jumper too and wrapped his arms around himself, shaking from the stress and from the chill of the autumn air flowing in through the open window.

The window… Charles stared over at it, having a very impulsive and possibly very bad idea. He just wanted it to be over- he just wanted to get out of Erik’s cabin, or ideally out of the camp entirely. He just wanted to get away.

Edging over to window, Charles pushed it open further and lifted himself to slide through it. He tumbled clumsily to the other side, recovering quickly and pulling himself to his feet, before running off into the night.

 

 

 

Charles didn’t know where he was going, at least not at first. He ran through the woods aimlessly, considering going back to his own cabin and the comfort of his friends, considering going to Logan to seek his protection. In the end, he decided to settle on a third option- he was going to the outerbounds cabins where Shaw resided, to find out what Shaw had planned for him, once and for all.

Okay, so it was probably a horrendous idea- one of Charles’ worst- but by this point he was past caring. He’d reached his breaking point.

Charles stumbled through the woods, shivering bitterly in the cold night air, bare feet hurting at he stepped on various branches and stones and he ran. It took a long while for Charles to reach the area where Shaw was set up, and with each step Charles expected to hear Erik coming after him. His only hope was that Erik hadn’t moved from his cabin- that he assumed Charles was still in the bathroom recovering, and was giving him space.

There weren’t many lights on in the outerbounds cabins, in fact there was only one. Charles moved towards it, keeping himself to the shadows- trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, in spite of the fact that there appeared to be no one around. When he reached the cabin Charles skirted around the edge of it, moving to the window where he could see light spilling out.

Charles remained in the darkness as much as possible as he held onto the windowsill and edged up on his tiptoes, peering inside the room.

 

Shaw was inside. Although Charles had come looking for him, Charles hadn’t necessarily expected Shaw to just be there, but he was- and he wasn’t alone. There was a girl with him. She stood with her back to where Charles was hiding, but when she turned to the side to face Shaw, Charles was surprised to find that he recognised her.

It was Angel- the standoffish recruit that Charles had spent time with previously as he worked with her on developing her powers. Shaw was talking to her and whatever he was saying, she clearly wasn’t happy with it- shaking her head vigorously as she looked at him.

Charles wondered what they were talking about. He considered using his telepathy to try and get a sense of what was happening, but decided it would be too risky. Instead he could only watch powerlessly as Shaw and Angel continued their exchange.

Questions whirled through Charles’ mind: What was Angel doing with Shaw? Was she involved in Weapon X? Why did they seem to be arguing? But then the scene in front of him took a more violent turn, and Charles’ questions turned frantically to wondering what he should do to help.

Shaw stepped towards Angel, saying… something. Looking… menacing. Angel was shaking her head again- edging away from Shaw, but suddenly he reached forward and grabbed her around the throat. She struggled desperately in Shaw’s grasp- beating at his hands in a panic as his grip clearly tightened. Charles was frozen- completely helpless and terrified as he watched scene before him. He thought he had time- he thought that if Shaw was going to choke Angel to death then he’d be able to intervene before he killed her. He hadn’t expected to see Shaw rip Angel’s head clear off her neck.

Charles opened his mouth to scream, but someone’s hand clamped down over it before he could make a sound.

 

The figure pulled Charles away from the window- dragging him roughly into the darkness of a nearby line of trees. Charles struggled desperately against his assailant- kicking his legs and trying to pull at the person’s hand with his fingers.

“Charles… Please stop struggling”, a voice pleaded. Erik’s voice.

The fact that Charles knew who was holding him didn’t make him feel any calmer. Charles thrashed frantically in Erik’s arms, muffled screams escaping his mouth as he tried in vain to get away. Erik continued to plead with Charles to stop fighting, apparently realising in time that Charles wasn’t going to listen.

Erik kept one hand on Charles’ mouth, moving to slide his other arm around Charles’ throat and squeezing his forearm down. Charles only panicked more; riling against Erik as he began to choke, gasping for breath and feeling a haze drop over his senses.

“I’m sorry, Charles…” Erik murmured against Charles’ ear as Charles slipped into unconsciousness.

 

 

 

Charles awoke some time later, eyes blearily opening as he adjusted to his surroundings. He knew this room... He was in Erik’s cabin, lying back on the sofa. Charles bolted upright- scrambling to stand up but stopping short when he found that his wrists and ankles were bound by metal wire.

“I’ll take those off if you promise not to fight me”.

Charles whirled to look behind him- finding Erik sitting in the armchair next to the sofa, watching him carefully. Immediately Charles felt the panic rise up in him- edging down the other end of the sofa away from Erik, pulling fiercely at his restraints.

“Charles, please…” Erik begged- his eyes soulful. “Please calm down- I’m not going to hurt you. You’re safe with me”.

A hilarious notion, but Charles didn’t feel like laughing.

“Safe? Safe?? I’ve never been so unsafe in my entire fucking life!” Charles exclaimed, voice coming out harsh and shrill. “Ever since you fucking kidnapped me I have been mistreated and coerced and manhandled, and now to top it off there’s a fucking lunatic living here who likes to rip people’s heads off- a lunatic you invited!”

Erik turned away from Charles hopelessly, and Charles could feel his despair- he could feel Erik yearning to comfort him, even though he clearly knew that was the last thing Charles would want.

Erik rose from the armchair, moving over to take a seat on the sofa next to Charles, which only made Charles edge away more desperately until Erik used his powers to gently hold the restraints on Charles’ wrists and ankles- keeping Charles in place.

“I didn’t invite Shaw…” Erik said at last. “I don’t even want him here… But as you’ve seen he’s very powerful- he could crush any of us without straining a muscle. A situation like this needs to be handled… delicately”.

“Delicately? Fucking delicately?? Angel is dead! He killed her! There is no delicate way to handle that”.

“I know…” Erik replied softly. “I’m sorry, Charles. I wish… I wish I could have done something to help her, but getting you away from Shaw was the most crucial thing”.

“Yeah, of course”, Charles sneered. “You can’t be without your fucktoy, right?”

Erik cursed, turning his gaze away from Charles painfully. “It’s not about that, Charles”, he said eventually. “You’re important to me. You’re important to the future of The Brotherhood”.

“Oh, fuck off, Erik. I don’t give a shit about your precious Brotherhood”.

Erik looked back to Charles, but he didn’t seem angry for once- just tired.

“Yes, you do”, Erik replied. “You care about the recruits you’ve been helping- I’ve seen it. You care about everyone, Charles”.

It was true- it probably went without saying. Charles valued the lives of almost everyone he met… But that didn’t mean he wanted to be a puppet in Erik and Shaw’s games.

“What do you want from me?” Charles asked at last.

“I want you to help me to take down Shaw”.

Charles’ eyes grew wide, before a slightly hysterical-sounding laugh erupted from him.

“I know it’s asking a lot, Charles…”

“A lot? It’s asking the fucking impossible. What am I supposed to do against Shaw?”

Erik’s gaze dropped down, and Charles could feel him thinking- considering what to say, and how to say it. But then he got distracted.

“You’re bleeding”, Erik murmured, looking down at Charles’ legs where they were resting on the sofa next to him. Charles followed his gaze- noticing the dirt and blood that covered his bare feet.

Erik stood up- moving over towards the bathroom and beginning to search inside. Charles took his absence as an opportunity to fight against the restraints again- Erik was no longer holding onto them with his powers, so Charles began to struggle; twisting his wrists painfully against the metal wires.

Charles wasn’t making much progress, other than scraping his wrists somewhat, when he felt the pressure on the restraints return.

“Please, stop that…”

Charles looked up to find Erik standing in the bathroom doorway, one arm outstretched with a first aid kit in his other hand.

Charles didn’t stop, he only struggled more frantically.

“Charles, please…” Erik urged, moving across the room and taking a seat on the sofa next to Charles. He grabbed hold of Charles on his forearms, holding him still.

“If you calm down I’ll take these off”, Erik said softly, tracing his fingers gently against Charles skin. Charles tilted his gaze up to look at Erik, finding him staring back imploringly.

Charles stopped struggling- thrusting his arms out towards Erik as an instruction. Erik did as promised- one wave of his hands and the metal wires on Charles’ wrists and ankles melted away, and Charles pulled his arms towards himself immediately afterwards, holding them close defensively as Erik began to open the med kit.

Erik selected a cotton wool pad and poured liquid onto it, before turning back towards Charles and reaching for his scratched wrists- not that Charles was so willing to comply. He kept his arms close to his chest, registering Erik’s misery but not really caring. When Charles didn’t submit, Erik instead turned his attention to Charles’ feet- lifting one leg into his lap and beginning to brush the pad against the cuts along Charles’ foot.

Charles allowed it, watching Erik carefully and trying to pick through his turbulent thoughts. When Charles didn’t get any answers, he felt inclined to ask.

“You never answered my question”, Charles said at last. “How am I supposed to take on Shaw?”

Erik looked up to meet Charles’ eyes. “Do you understand what Shaw’s mutation is?” he asked quietly.

Charles shook his head.

“He has the power to absorb energy, but not just that- he can redirect it; turn it into a weapon. It means he’s almost impossible to stop, because whatever you throw at him he can turn back on you. Plus, not forgetting that he has a psychic by his side…” Charles raised his eyebrows questioningly and Erik clarified: “You met her- the blonde woman, Emma”.

“And what am I supposed to do against that?”

“You can stop Shaw… With your telepathy”.

Charles frowned, watching Erik as he looked down, continuing to brush the cotton pad against Charles’ feet.

“Erik… I can’t stop anyone. You may have swapped the inhibitor for a weaker version, but it’s not enough”.

“I know that… That’s why I’m going to disable the cuff altogether”.

Charles was dreaming- he must have been. There was no way he really just heard Erik say he was going to give Charles his telepathy back.

“You’re lying…” Charles whispered.

Erik looked back up to meet his gaze. “I would never lie to you, Charles. I never have”, he said softly. “It was always my plan to let you have your powers back. Ever since Shaw first started to get too involved in events here I began looking for a way to resist him, and when you fell into my lap it seemed like the perfect solution”.

Erik paused, looking somewhat guilty, before continuing: “I’m… I’m sorry that I couldn’t just come out and tell you what was going on, but I needed time to convince Mystique that trusting you would be our best option. She still doesn’t… doesn’t trust you, I mean- not fully. Hence why you’re still wearing a cuff. But if you can show willing, I’m sure she’ll come around. After all, we need you… I need you”.

Charles watched Erik, a river of emotions washing over him. He was scared- about the future; about facing Shaw, but also hopeful- feeling like there really could be a way out for him, at last.

But then there was another emotion entirely- rising to the surface and quickly overpowering all others. There was a moment of realisation, followed by anger…

“You bastard”, Charles spat out, wrenching his leg out of Erik’s grasp and standing up from the sofa abruptly before backing away from Erik, who in turn only looked confused.

“Charles, what--?”

“You planned this…” Charles fumed, blue eyes burning as he glared at Erik. “You knew all along that you were going to give me my telepathy back, and yet you used it as an opportunity to manipulate me into having sex with you”.

Erik faltered- shame showing in his face and his thoughts as he stood up from the sofa slowly; broadcasting every move as he edged closer to Charles.

“That’s not _quite_ what happened, Charles, as I seem to remember you offered--“

“Fuck you, Erik!” Charles interrupted bitterly. “You knew exactly what you were doing”.

Erik looked down at the ground guiltily, scrunching up the cotton wool pad he still held in his hands. “Okay, you’re right…” he said eventually. “I acted selfishly. I let… my feelings for you interfere with--“

“Feelings??” Charles snapped. “You’re not capable of feelings, Erik- other than lust, anger, obsession…”

Erik’s eyes flicked back up to Charles, full of feeling… Charles was wrong- he knew that. Erik felt… a great many things, based on what was Charles was picking up. But it wasn’t anything Charles wanted to deal with or accept right now.

“I want to leave”, Charles said abruptly. “If you won’t let me go home completely then at least let me go back to my cabin”.

“No”, Erik replied, shaking his head and edging closer to Charles. “No- it isn’t safe. You have to stay with me”.

“I would rather die…”

There it was- another feeling. Charles felt it splinter through Erik’s mind; saw the anguish register in his eyes. Charles tried very hard not to care.

“That’s… unfortunate, Charles”, Erik said slowly. “But it doesn’t change anything. I need to keep you safe, at least until you’re ready to help me with Shaw”.

“How can you ask me that?” Charles demanded suddenly. “How can you put that weight on my shoulders? I was fine before I met you- I had a normal life. But you ripped me away, to come play a part in your sick power struggle with Shaw. You’re a selfish prick, you know that?”

“I know…” Erik murmured quietly. He stepped forward, causing Charles to back away and bang into the wall behind him. “Charles, please…” Erik continued, “I need to finish cleaning your cuts”.

Charles turned his face away from Erik, standing with his back flat against the wall- head turned to the side as Erik gradually stepped closer. It was much like the first time Erik had gotten this close to Charles, only this time he wasn’t trying to throttle Charles, he was trying to comfort him. Perhaps that was an indication of how much things had changed between them since that day.

Erik reached for Charles’ hands- turning them over and beginning to gently press the cotton pad against the scratches on Charles’ wrists. Charles remained very, very still- refusing to meet Erik’s eyes, hating how close Erik was and how vulnerable it made him feel- like it always did.

Eventually Erik was finished, though he didn’t move away. He ceased wiping at Charles’ cuts but didn’t let go of his arms- holding onto Charles delicately as he stared down at him.

“I’m sorry…” Erik whispered. “For everything”.

At that, he stepped away- moving a few paces across the room and giving Charles room to breathe. He sat down on the sofa eventually, looking up at Charles.

“Please, get some sleep Charles. You take the bed- I’ll stay away from you; I promise”.

Charles remained where he was for a long moment, before composing himself and pushing away from the wall. He crossed the room and wandered over to the bed, sinking down into it and pulling the covers tightly over himself. He was hurt, and tired, and scared… but exhausted too. Despite everything, it didn’t take Charles long to fall asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

 

 

Dreaming was easy. When Charles dreamed it was like the whole world fell away, and he was safe inside his own mind.

This had never been more necessary than in the weeks since Charles had come to the camp. Life for Charles recently had been quite hard, and sleep gave him a chance to escape. That’s all he wanted, really- to escape. He dreamt of it every night.

Charles was deep into one such dream when a presence pulled him from it. Even without opening his eyes Charles could tell who it was: Erik. Charles could feel his mind- he could sense Erik sitting on the bed next to him, watching over him and broadcasting worry and regret and devotion and… something else deeper that Charles didn’t want to deal with right now.

Charles stayed still for a long while- lying flat on his stomach with his head turned to the side, pretending to still be asleep- hoping that Erik would give up and move away, but he didn’t. Eventually, Charles cracked his eyes open.

Erik was looking down at him, like Charles had expected. His face softened slightly as he registered that Charles was awake- starting to give the slightest of smiles. Erik moved his hand, looking like he was going to reach for Charles, before he thought better of it.

“Good morning, Charles”, Erik said softly.

Charles remained where he was, looking up at Erik cautiously.

“How are you feeling?” Erik continued.

“My ass hurts”, Charles blurted out. Erik winced and looked away, and Charles could tell how embarrassed and ashamed he felt. It was a small comfort.

“Is it time for you to walk me home?” Charles asked eventually, beginning to turn over and sit up straight.

“No, not yet. I need to talk to you first”.

“I’m really not in the mood to talk…” Charles grumbled, shoving the covers off himself and starting to climb off the bed before Erik reached a hand to stop him.

“Please, Charles- it’s important”, Erik urged, holding Charles gently on the upper arm and looking at him imploringly.

Charles sighed, shrugging out of Erik’s grasp and moving to sit back against the headboard with his knees drawn up to his chest.

“Alright then- talk”, Charles instructed.

Erik moved to a more comfortable position- sitting with his legs crossed facing Charles, one hand outstretched and resting against the mattress in the space between them.

Charles was waiting, impatiently- watching Erik who in turn only stared down at the bed. Eventually though he looked up to meet Charles’ eyes, and spoke:

“I’m letting you go”.

Charles’ mouth dropped open in surprise.

“What??” he whispered.

“I thought about what you said, and you’re right. I’m asking too much of you. I’ve taken too much from you already… I can’t expect you to assist me with Shaw- it’s not your fight. And so, I’m letting you go”.

Charles was dumbfounded- staring over at Erik with wide blue eyes, not really believing what he was hearing.

“You’re lying…” Charles muttered.

Erik regarded him sadly. “I’ve already told you, Charles- I will never lie to you”.

Charles huffed out a laugh. “Right… so you expect me to believe that now- after everything- you’re just going to release me. Just like that”.

“It’s the truth. I don’t want to let you go, believe me… But this isn’t about me, it’s about you. I want to do this for you. I want you to be… happy”.

It was the last thing that Charles had expected to hear when he woke up that morning and, perhaps for the first time in his life, he was at a loss for words.

“I’m letting Hank go too, if that’s what you’re concerned about”, Erik continued. “I’ll walk you back to your cabin and you can make Hank aware of the situation- privately, of course. All I ask is that you both just try and act normal for the rest of the day- go to your lab, continue with your research. And then, when you come to my cabin tonight, bring Hank with you. I’ll get you both out”.

Charles was still speechless- staring over at Erik in disbelief. Erik was telling the truth though- Charles could tell just from Erik’s surface thoughts that he was being completely sincere. Thinking about it, Erik was almost always completely sincere…

“What about the others?” Charles asked at last. “The other people here at the camp- what will happen to them?”

“I don’t know”, Erik sighed. “I meant what I said- I want to shut Shaw down, and I’m going to try, but there are no guarantees”.

“Honestly though, Charles”, Erik added, edging closer to Charles and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “What happens here is not your problem”.

Erik was right, of course, but whether something was Charles’ problem or not rarely stopped him from caring about the outcome.

“Wait a minute”, Charles said, shaking his head, “You said that woman who came to the camp with Shaw- Emma, you said she was a psychic too? Aren’t you worried she’s going to figure out what you’re planning?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about Emma. She and I have… a history. I don’t doubt that she’s loyal to Shaw right now, but I don’t think she’ll do anything to hurt me either, or by extension- you”.

“How can you be so sure?”

Erik shrugged. “I can’t be sure… But to be honest, Charles, after tonight you’ll be long gone, so what happens here- what happens to me… It’s really nothing for you to be concerned about”.

But Charles was concerned- he couldn’t help it. Although most of him was unbelievably jubilant about the idea of getting away, he couldn’t stop himself from worrying about what would happen to everyone else at the camp- including Erik.

Erik moved closer- edging towards Charles cautiously and, after a moment of hesitation, reaching up to hold his face. Charles gazed into Erik’s eyes- the embrace enabling him to connect with Erik on a deeper level, as it always did. Charles could feel how much Erik cared about him- how much he really did want Charles to be safe and happy, above all else- maybe even above himself.

“I’ll see you and Hank tonight, okay?” Erik said, fingertips tracing Charles’ jawline gently.

Charles nodded.

 

 

 

Erik walked Charles back to his cabin in silence that morning- both of them heavy in thought that neither wanted to share.

When they arrived at the cabin Charles turned to Erik, waiting for Erik to lean down and kiss him on the cheek, like he always did, but he didn’t- not this time. Erik kept his distance- looking down at Charles soulfully; his mind a jumble of emotions that Charles couldn’t even begin to sort through.

“I’ll see you later, okay?” Erik said. He reached forward for Charles’ hand, grabbing hold of a single finger and squeezing it lightly. “Be careful”, he added, before letting go and walking away.

Charles watched him go, consumed by a sadness that he could have belonged to either Erik or himself- he wasn’t really sure. Eventually Charles gathered himself together before turning and walking up the steps into the cabin.

Hank and Anna Marie were both inside, which meant that Charles would have to wait a little while before he could reveal everything to Hank. The three of them went to breakfast- Hank and Anna Marie talking animatedly whilst Charles kept quiet and sipped on a single cup of coffee. By the time Charles said goodbye to Anna Marie and headed for the lab with Hank, he was ready to explode.

“Erik’s letting us go”, Charles blurted out, sitting at a table across from Hank in the hangar. Hank startled immediately, dropping the test tube he had been holding and shattering it.

Hank didn’t say anything for a long while, so Charles felt the need to explain further.

And so, he told Hank everything. Charles told Hank about Erik- what he’d been doing with him, and why- explaining about the cuff and how Charles now had some of his telepathy back. He told Hank about Shaw and his plans for the camp, as well as what Charles had seen Shaw do to Angel. Finally, he told Hank about what had happened that morning- how Erik had revealed that he was going to help them escape.

Hank didn’t say anything whilst Charles talked, simply gaping back at him from across the table. When Charles was finished he paused- looking over at Hank and waiting for a reaction, but it seemed like he’d stunned Hank into silence.

“Hank… Come on- you’ve got to say something, or at least close your mouth before you start dribbling on the floor”.

Hank shifted at last- shutting his mouth and leaning back in his chair.

“You really think Magneto will do it?” Hank asked eventually. “You really think he’s going to just let us leave?”

Erik would do it- Charles was certain.

“He’s letting us go”, Charles confirmed.

“Wow…” Hank said, scratching his jaw. “Wow, you must really have done a number on him”.

_“Undoubtedly…”_ Charles thought, mind drifting as he remembered all the moments he and Erik had shared over the past several weeks- the two of them talking quietly together, Erik smiling widely at him from across a chess board, the security of Erik holding Charles in his own mind as he shared his memories, the feeling of Erik kissing along his spine…

“But what about the rest of the prisoners?” Hank said, pulling Charles from thought. “Anna Marie and Logan- are we just going to leave them?”

Charles bit his lip, feeling incredibly guilty and selfish all of a sudden. “I know… I want to help them too, I just don’t know what to do”.

Hank paused for a moment, considering things before responding: “You know, maybe this is the way we can help them- we get out and we tell people about what’s happening here”.

“You really think people will believe us?” Charles responded. “And more importantly do you think they’d help? I don’t know, Hank- the general public often has a rather unfavourable view of mutants… Revealing that there’s a secret training camp, and that people like Shaw are planning to experiment on mutants in order to increase their powers? I can’t see how that would end well for any of us”.

“Still… We have to try though, don’t we Charles?”

 

 

 

The rest of the day passed far too slowly. Hank and Charles attempted to carry on with their research for a while before realising it was pointless- it’s not like they’d be able to take their work with them, after all. With nothing productive to do the day passed extremely slowly, just a slog of endless minutes ticking on.

When it was approaching the time for the meeting at Erik’s cabin, Charles found himself at a bit of an impasse. He and Hank had been walking from the hangar- intending to head to their own cabin first as a bit of a ruse; a way to kill time until they needed to meet Erik. Unfortunately though, they were stopped on the way by Anna Marie and Remy.

“Charles, Hank- there you are, we were just coming to find you”, Anna Marie smiled. “Want to come with us to the lake? There’s another gathering there tonight”.

Charles and Hank looked at each other uncertainly.

“Oh come on guys, it’ll be fun. You have time, don’t you Charles- you don’t go over to Erik’s until much later, right?” Anna Marie continued.

Well that was Charles’ excuse sorted- evidently people knew his routine by now, so they would be expecting him to go to Erik’s tonight. Taking Hank with him, however, might prove to be more difficult.

 

Hank and Charles begrudgingly followed Anna Marie and Remy to the lake, sitting down around the already-lit campfire, trying to act casual and not at all like they were planning a breakout... It wasn’t easy- Hank wasn’t a very good liar, and every emotion he felt had a tendency to show clearly on his face. The only saving grace was the fact that Hank now knew about Charles’ telepathy, so Charles was able to spend the whole evening projecting a sense of calm into Hank’s troubled mind.

It seemed to work- both Hank and Charles engaged with their friends, talking and drinking- like nothing was amiss. Things were going so well, up until the moment when Charles felt a sharp jab on his shoulder.

It felt like someone had poked him with a dull blade but, turning around, Charles found that it was actually the tip of a long tail- a tail that belonged to Shaw’s red-skinned companion: Azazel.

“Come with me”, Azazel instructed. Charles frowned, not enjoying the way that Azazel’s eyes were fixed coldly on him.

“Why? What do you want?”

“Not me- the boss. Come”.

Clearly Azazel was a man of few words… Charles rose from his seat slowly, catching Hank’s worried glance and using his telepathy to tell him not to worry. Following Azazel, Charles wandered away from the campfire- scanning his mind for information as they walked. Azazel was too far away for Charles to pick up anything interesting- striding ahead of Charles and just occasionally looking back to make sure Charles was still there- and besides, by the time Azazel stopped and Charles caught up to him, the sight of Shaw and Emma waiting made Charles shut down his telepathy completely out of pure fright.

Shaw and Emma stepped out from behind a line of trees, walking to meet Charles and Azazel- both smiling in a slightly disconcerting manner. Charles froze in place- eyes darting to Emma immediately and wondering just what she was able to read from him.

The ruse was up- Charles just knew it. Why else would Shaw have summoned him, other than to stop him escaping? Panicked thoughts rushed through Charles’ head for about half a second, before he took a deep breath and attempted to calm his mind. No need to freak out- not until he knew for sure.

“What do you want?” Charles demanded. Oops- not a good start if he was planning to just act casual.

“Now, professor- there’s no need to be rude”, Shaw tutted. “I just wanted to have a quick chat with you whilst I had the opportunity. It’s been so difficult to get you alone- if I didn’t know any better, I would say that Erik has been trying to keep you away from me…”

Charles tried to give a casual laugh but it came out wobbly and nervous instead. “Why would Erik do that? He’s the one who told you about me initially, right?”

“He did… Though he wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the information, nor was he particularly keen for us to meet in the first place. I can’t imagine why…”

Charles could imagine why…  Shaw was a psychopath, and clearly Erik knew that. He hadn’t known, however, that Erik had been working to keep Shaw away all this time. What else had Erik been doing to protect him, and for how long?

“So what did you want to talk about?” Charles asked eventually.

Shaw smirked. “I have… a project that I’m working on, and I’d like your help”.

“My help? Why?”

“Well, it involves researching mutations, in a manner of speaking. That is your area of expertise, right professor?”

“Yes… But, I’m already conducting research- myself and Hank are. If you want to compare notes, we can--“

“No, no”, Shaw interrupted, shaking his head. “I’ll need you to be much more hands on than that. The type of research I have in mind will mean you and I will be working together very closely indeed…”

Charles really didn’t like the sound of that… Shaw continued talking- describing somewhat vaguely what he wanted Charles to do. He made it sound so ordinary- just conducting blood tests, examining cells… Charles suspected the reality would be very, very different. It was Weapon X- that’s what Shaw was talking about, Charles was certain of it.

Charles’ mind wandered- thinking about what had happened to Angel, thinking about Erik, thinking about the escape tonight… Then suddenly he realised what a stupid mistake he’d made. Charles’ eyes darted to Emma, finding her staring back at him curiously, and Charles froze in place- eyes growing wide, outwardly trying to maintain calm but inwardly scrambling.

_“Relax Charles, don’t stare at me- pretend to be listening to Shaw”_ , Emma said clearly in Charles’ mind.

Charles’ mouth gaped slightly, but he managed to turn his attention back to Shaw- acting like he was listening and nodding occasionally.

_“You don’t have to worry, sugar”_ , Emma continued, _“I’m not going to rat you out... I know about the escape, and I know about you and Erik- you just gave me a rather vivid depiction of just what’s been going on between you two, after all. Erik always was a bad boy…”_

Charles gulped in a breath. _“You’re not going to tell Shaw?”_ he sent back.

_“No, I’m not”._

_“Why? Why would you keep this secret?”_

Emma smiled- it was subtle on her face but brighter in her mind. _“Maybe I have a soft spot for bad boys… Let’s just say, you’re not the first psychic Erik has taken an interest in. He’s been very good to me over the years, and if I can return the favour I will”._

“So, how does that sound, professor?” Shaw said, bringing Charles back to reality for a moment.

Charles had stopped fully listening a while ago, but it didn’t matter- whatever Shaw wanted, Charles was going to agree to it. After all, if everything went according to plan then he would never have to do what Shaw asked anyway.

“Okay, whatever you want”, Charles said, smiling thinly at Shaw.

Shaw gave an altogether more sinister smile in return. “Excellent. Well, I’ll see you bright and early in the morning then. Do you need Azazel to escort you back or do you know the way?”

“I can manage”, Charles responded, immediately beginning to back away.

_“Goodbye, Charles”_ , Emma projected as he turned and began to head down the pathway. _“Don’t worry, I’ll look after Erik for you…”_

Charles walked briskly back to the campfire, grasping Hank on the shoulder when he arrived and leaning down to talk to him.

“Time to go”, Charles said. Hank responded instantly- standing up from his seat and beginning to follow Charles.

“Leaving so soon?” Anna Marie said, looking over at them from where she was sat curled up next to Remy.

“I’m afraid so”, Charles replied, smiling politely. “I need to go to Erik’s, and Hank’s going back to the lab for a bit to, erm, continue with some research”.

“Really?” Anna Marie questioned, pulling a slightly confused face. “You’re going to work at this time of the night?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s an important project”, Hank mumbled.

Anna Marie continued to frown for a second, before her expression softened. “Okay- have fun, I’ll see you guys at the cabin later”, she smiled.

Charles felt an enormous pang of guilt as he said goodbye to Anna Marie and Remy, before he and Hank walked away.

 

 

Charles and Hank arrived at Erik’s cabin a little bit later than they had originally planned, which apparently hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Erik jumped up immediately from the sofa as they entered, eyes darting over in the direction of the door and softening slightly as Charles and Hank walked in.

“You’re late”, Erik said. _“I was worried”_ , his mind added.

“Sorry… We got held up- Shaw…” Charles paused as he felt a bolt of panic hit him- Erik’s panic. “Don’t worry”, Charles quickly added, “It’s okay- nothing bad happened. He doesn’t suspect a thing”.

Erik gave a sigh of relief, before turning behind him to look at the bathroom.

“You can come out now”, Erik called.

A mutant Charles had never met before stepped out nervously from inside the bathroom, edging towards them gradually. Charles’ telepathy told him that the young man was a mutant, but he didn’t really need it to- the fact that the stranger had blue skin and a long tail kind of broadcasted the fact.

“This is Kurt”, Erik explained. “He’s a teleporter- he’s going to take you home”.

“Aren’t you a little young to be working for The Brotherhood?” Charles frowned.

“He doesn’t work for us”, Erik replied. “Well, not really. He’s kind of… an intern”.

The fact that The Brotherhood apparently had interns was faintly amusing to Charles, but now wasn’t the time to laugh.

“Hank, you’re going first”, Erik stated.

“First?” Charles questioned. “We can’t both go together?”

Kurt shifted where he stood behind Erik, looking slightly uncomfortable. “I can only transport one person at a time”, he said quietly. “My powers are still developing”.

Charles felt a surge of compassion for Kurt, reminded instantly of all the mutants he had helped to develop their abilities. He couldn’t help but regret that he would probably never be able to help Kurt in that same way.

“Kurt will take you home”, Erik said, talking to Hank. “He can only teleport to places he’s been to before, so he’ll have to drop you at the courtyard where we first took you from”. Erik turned around, addressing Kurt. “Walk Hank home after, okay? Make sure he gets there safely before coming back for Charles”.

Charles bit his lip, wondering why Erik would insist Kurt escort Hank home after teleporting him. It’s didn’t look like Kurt would be able to help much should they run into trouble, so why waste time like that?

Kurt moved further into the room, coming to stand next to Hank and reaching a hand to lightly touch his arm.

“Wait a minute”, Erik said, lifting his hand. He gestured with his fingers and the cuff enclosing Hank’s wrist came away, drifting over to a nearby table and settling down on it. Hank looked like he was in disbelief- staring down at his now-bare wrist and rubbing it with his other hand.

“When will my mutation become visible again?” Hank asked, glancing over at Erik.

“Hard to say”, Erik replied. “I guess when the drug is out of your system you’ll just… turn blue. Are you ready?”

Hank nodded and, after a further nod of approval from Erik, Kurt took Hank away.

 

It was really true- Erik was letting them go. Charles had never really doubted Erik, but to see it happen- to actually see Hank leave?

Charles turned around to face Erik, a wide smile spreading across his face which quickly turned into a grin. Erik couldn’t help but smile back in return, though there was a sadness in his eyes…

“Alright, let’s take yours off too”, Erik said, reaching for Charles. Charles stepped towards him without hesitation- extending his arm, not really thinking about the fact that Erik didn’t actually need to be close to him in order to remove the cuff.

Erik held Charles’ arm in both of his hands, fingers gently tracing Charles’ wrist as he used his powers to essentially dissolve the cuff- sliding it off of Charles’ wrist and melting it into a small ball, causing the liquid enclosed inside to pour out onto the floor as the remaining metal was moved over to rest on the table. When he was finished Erik continued to hold onto Charles, staring intensely into his eyes.

“Come with me?” Erik requested, pulling Charles lightly. Charles allowed Erik to lead him into the bathroom and move him over in the direction of the sink. Erik reached around Charles’ waist- holding him securely and lifting Charles up so that he sat back on the counter next to the sink, before turning on the taps with his powers and reaching to dampen a cloth.

Erik moved closer to Charles, nudging his knees apart lightly and coming to stand in-between them as he reached his hand to hold Charles' arm. He brought the damp cloth to Charles’ wrist, gently wiping the area where the cuff had rested- cleaning off the residue of the drug that remained.

Charles regarded Erik quietly, observing as Erik carefully cleaned his wrist- Erik’s eyes focused only down, while Charles focused only on his face. Charles could feel what Erik wasn’t saying, and it made his heart hurt. There was such loss- such despair at letting Charles go, such sacrifice. Undoubtedly though, it was the right thing to do- they both knew that.

“Thank you…” Charles said softly.

Erik looked up to meet his eyes. He looked tired, Charles realised- like he carried a great weight on his shoulders.

“Don’t thank me”, Erik replied tersely. “I shouldn’t have taken you in the first place”.

“Do you regret it?” It was a stupid question really, and Charles didn’t even know what kind of answer he expected.

Erik paused, ceasing to wipe Charles’ wrist but still holding onto his arm, gazing intently into Charles’ eyes.

“I’m not in the habit of having regrets”, Erik replied eventually. “I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life- I’ve hurt a lot of people, killed them… I never really thought about it- I just did what I thought was necessary to ensure the survival of our race”.

Erik paused, looking away from Charles for a moment before continuing softly: “I don’t regret a single second of the time that I’ve spent with you… except for anything I ever did that wasn’t entirely what you wanted”.

He looked back to Charles at last, and Charles felt like he could feel the intention of the words as well as hear them: “I’m truly sorry”, Erik said softly. “I only hope one day you might be able to forgive me”.

Charles didn’t know what to say. What did Erik expect? It’s okay? I understand? I forgive you?? None of those things would have been entirely true. However, at the same time Charles knew he didn’t fully blame for Erik that had happened. It had been his idea to try to get closer to Erik- he had wanted to use Erik just as much as Erik had wanted to use him, though perhaps under an entirely different motivation. And, that’s not forgetting the fact that the reason why Charles was even brought to the camp in the first place was because of his own rash stupidity.

Erik was still staring at Charles- waiting for a response that would never come. Eventually he looked away, jaw trembling slightly as he stepped back from Charles- backing a few paces across the room.

Charles ached for him, the feeling like an intense pressure forming around his heart as he watched Erik move away. It didn’t make sense… Charles knew he should be happy, or at least relieved to be leaving the camp, but that wasn’t really how he felt- not completely. All day Charles had wrestled with uneasiness, assuming that his discontent was due to his guilt over leaving Anna Marie and the others. Now though, looking at Erik, Charles wasn’t so sure.

“Um… Are you guys ready?” Kurt interrupted, peering at them both from where he stood in the bathroom doorway.

“Yes, yes- just take him”, Erik muttered, still not meeting Charles’ eyes.

Kurt walked into the room hesitantly, coming to stand next to Charles as Charles slid down from the counter to meet him.

“Are you ready?” Kurt asked.

Charles gave a small nod, still looking over at Erik, and Kurt placed a hand on Charles’ arm as finally Erik looked back over to him.

Charles just had enough time to see the single tear that rolled down Erik’s face. Then, he was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

 

 

Charles awoke to the sound of an alarm ringing. Turning his head to the side, Charles groaned and reached his hand underneath the pillow next to him- retrieving his phone and clumsily putting an end to the droning sound. He remained still for a long while, resting his face against the pillow as he slowly returned to full consciousness.

It had been over two weeks since Charles had left the camp, and he hadn’t been sleeping very well. It was hard to drift off at night; Charles’ mind wandered, thinking about the people he had left behind- Anna Marie, Logan, Remy, Erik… When Charles eventually did fall asleep he woke often, convinced for a moment that he was back in the cabin, that Erik was right there next to him... Eventually he always remembered he was alone, and it wasn’t particularly comforting.

Charles drank a lot- to cover up the guilt, to cover up the regret... It dulled the edge of his pain, but didn’t absorb it entirely. He hadn’t returned to work at the university in the time since he’d come home, even though that probably would have provided a welcome distraction. He missed the type of work he’d been able to do at the camp- assisting mutants with the development of their powers; really helping people, rather than just lecturing them in a classroom. Ever since Charles had returned he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it, and before long a plan had begun to form.

He had a sizeable estate, he had money- undoubtedly Charles had the resources necessary to put together a program that could really help mutants, in the way he wanted. A school for gifted youngsters.

Of course, Charles would require sobriety first... He leaned over to the bedside table, placing his phone down on it and accidentally knocking over the half-empty whiskey bottle that rested on the surface.

_“Whiskey or wine…”_ Charles thought, remembering.

There was a light tap at his bedroom door, forcing Charles to crawl from bed and wander over to go answer it, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he walked.

Hank was waiting when Charles opened the door, still wearing his pyjamas and shifting nervously. Clearly he hadn’t slept any better.

“Charles, I think you’re going to want to see this…” Hank said carefully.

 

A few minutes later Charles and Hank were sat downstairs on the sofa, watching the news broadcast Hank had turned on:

‘And a recap of our story today: mutant-rights activist group The Brotherhood of Mutants have announced a leadership change, as Sebastian Shaw takes over from predecessors Magneto and Mystique…’

“No…” Charles uttered, looking at the television in horror. Shaw’s grinning face filled the screen as the broadcast showed various images of him, before finally going to a live feed of him walking up to a podium and preparing to make an address.

Charles really didn’t want to hear Shaw talk- didn’t want to hear his voice ever again, in fact, but he knew he needed to listen. He needed to understand what had happened in the time since he and Hank had left the camp.

Unfortunately, Shaw’s speech didn’t reveal much. He didn’t even mention Erik or Mystique; talking instead about himself and his plans for The Brotherhood- how he was going to take the organisation to new heights, how he was looking for new members to assist him, both mutant and human…

It didn’t make sense- The Brotherhood were a group devoted to mutant supremacy, so why would Shaw want humans to join now?

Shaw continued talking, revealing that here was a recruitment event happening today at the courtyard where everything had first started all those weeks ago. Shaw was inviting people- both mutant and human- to attend and to enlist in The Brotherhood’s cause, to go with them to a special training camp…

“This is bad”, Charles murmured, “He’s ramping up the number of recruits- I can only imagine what he’s going to do with them”.

“But why humans?”, Hank replied, scratching at the blue fur that covered his face absently. “Did you ever hear anything about him wanting to work with ordinary people before?”

“No, never. Everything I’ve ever learnt about Shaw and his history has all revolved around mutants and their powers- I can’t understand what he would suddenly want from non-mutated individuals, but I’m sure it can’t be good”.

Understatement. Shaw was still speaking on the television, causing an uneasy feeling to develop in the pit of Charles’ stomach as he remembered vividly what Shaw was capable of.

“We need to do something”, Charles said eventually.

Hank only pulled a sympathetic face in return. “What can we do?”

He was right- they were powerless. When they’d returned home both Hank and Charles had attempted to get help for those people who remained at the camp, but without success. They had to be careful after all- they couldn’t just start blurting out their experiences to anyone who would listen, because there was nothing to stop Shaw from coming after them and putting a stop to their attempts, in whichever way he deemed necessary... In the end they had decided to contact just the government- the CIA specifically, but despite one particular agent named Moira MacTaggert taking an interest in their revelations it wasn’t enough, and they were largely ignored. Moira had apologised to Charles for not being able to help him further, and insisted she would continue trying to convince people to believe that Shaw was a threat.

Charles had considered for a moment just using his telepathy to essentially force the CIA to assist them, but interfering in others’ free will was not something Charles ever took lightly - particularly when the result would involve corrupting numerous minds and ultimately putting dozens of people in danger.

Hank and Charles watched the rest of the news broadcast, apprehensively listening to Shaw detail his intentions. Charles’ mind was whirring- thinking about all those poor individuals who would end up walking voluntarily into Shaw’s trap, and probably to their death. Charles couldn’t allow it- he couldn’t risk all those people dying. The only question was, what was he going to do about it?

 

 

 

Later that day Charles stood in the courtyard, keeping away from the crowds as he leaned against the rear wall, much like he had the first time he’d been there. In was a different setup than before though- the makeshift stage had been disassembled, but in its place were several small tents, with two large green trucks situated just behind them. People swarmed in front of Charles- forming somewhat orderly lines that stretched across the length of the yard leading up to the tents; talking quietly and often excitedly amongst themselves as they waited patiently to enlist.

Charles felt sick watching them all. He’d had similar feelings of revulsion the last time he’d been in this position, only now it was so much worse- knowing that these people weren’t just here to listen they were here to follow, and the man they wanted to lead them would most likely take them to their own demise.

Unlike the last time he had visited the courtyard, Charles was alone. Hank couldn’t have any part in this, that much was certain; Charles felt like he had already cost Hank far too much. And so, Charles had come alone- simply telling Hank that he was going to the university to clear out his office, and that he would be back soon. Of course, Hank would find out eventually what he’d done, and he’d probably be beside himself with worry, but Charles supposed that was better than putting Hank in danger once again.

Charles took a deep breath, stepping away from the wall at last and moving to take up position at the end of one of the queues. Well, that was the intention anyway- Charles only managed to take a few steps before someone barrelled into him; clearly too involved in listening to their music and dancing in place rather than paying attention to where they were going.

“Oh, hey- sorry man”, the guy shouted in Charles’ face, before apparently realising he was yelling and pulling his headphones off. “Sorry about that”, he grinned, “I was a little too busy getting my groove on, you know?”

“Not a problem”, Charles replied, smiling politely and moving away from the man as he stepped forward to take his place in the queue.

“You here to sign up too, are ya?” the man asked, following Charles and poking him in the back a few times. Charles looked around in irritation, reaching to rub the area where he’d been prodded and frowning.

“Could you not do that?” Charles requested irritably. “And yes, I’m here to enlist. Obviously”.

“Obviously”, the man grinned. “Me too. The name’s Wade Wilson”, he continued, wiping his hand on his trousers before offering it to Charles.

Charles hesitated for a moment before relenting and reaching to shake the man’s hand. “Charles Xavier, nice to meet you… I think”.

“Likewise. So what are you? Mineral, vegetable, or mutant?”

“Mutant… You?”

“Sagittarius, on the cusp of Cancer”.

“Those signs don’t go together…”

“Oh okay, jeez what are you- an astronomer?”

“It’s astrology, not astronomy…”

“Maybe it’s Maybelline”.

Charles stopped short, staring at the man in disbelief for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. Wade laughed too, running a hand back through his short blonde hair as he looked at Charles.

Charles indulged himself in a quick flex of his powers- scanning through Wade’s mind briefly to try and establish just who the hell this man was. He wasn’t a mutant- Charles figured that out pretty quickly- but that only made him wonder why on earth Wade would want to enlist in The Brotherhood.

“Wade- you’re not a mutant, are you? So why are you here? Why would you want to join The Brotherhood?” Charles asked, continuing to shuffle forward in the line as more space freed up.

“I don’t know, maybe I’m just looking for something to live for… And this seems like a pretty sweet set up, right? Cute little training camp, bit of kumbaya around the fire, maybe a panty raid…”

“It’s not cute…” Charles muttered, looking at Wade warily. “Trust me, Wade- you don’t want to be involved in this. I’ve… heard things about The Brotherhood- you’re better off keeping away”.

Wade pulled a face. “But you’re joining, aren’t you? So surely you can’t think it’s that bad?”

Charles paused, considering both telling Wade the truth and using his telepathy to just influence Wade to leave before he was interrupted by someone shouting: “Next!”

Wade flashed a final grin at Charles, before edging past him and following a woman with green hair and a clipboard into one of the tents. Charles watched him go, until shortly after he was beckoned forward by another clipboard-holding individual.

Charles followed the man into the tent, finding another person he had never seen before inside sitting behind a desk. What followed next was almost like a job interview- Charles sat at the desk and fielded questions; why he was here, what his mutation was, what he could do with his abilities… Charles answered as best as he could, although he was a little thrown by the situation- he had expected to just wander in and announce he was a mutant, and for The Brotherhood to welcome him with open arms. Instead they were almost being cautious, using the opportunity to glean as much information as possible before accepting or rejecting him.

Nevertheless, Charles passed. The person sat behind the desk ticked a bunch of boxes on his paperwork before gesturing for Charles to leave via the back of the tent.

Once outside, Charles was immediately directed to a waiting trunk and instructed to enter, which he did- taking a seat alongside various strangers. Wade wasn’t here, which led Charles to believe that either he hadn’t made it past selection or he was in the other truck, and perhaps The Brotherhood were keeping the mutants and humans separate.

Charles leaned back in his seat, watching as more and more people entered. When the truck was full a man climbed inside and closed the rear doors, before turning towards the passengers and instructing them to each reach behind them and place their arm on the side of the truck- a red X marking the spot where they were supposed to rest the back of their hand. Charles looked around him uncertainly, wondering what was going on as one by one each person complied to the command, before deciding to just take the answers he wanted.

Directing his telepathy to the man instructing them, Charles pried inside his mind and abruptly froze in dread as he realised what it was- looking above him to confirm his discovery in the end. It was the black cuffs, filled with the same suppressant that had stripped Charles of his powers on his last visit to the camp- they were suspended in the air above each of them, held in place by some sort of mechanism.

This was the moment to leave. Charles hadn’t foreseen this- he never thought The Brotherhood would start removing the recruits’ powers straight away like they had the prisoners’; he thought he would be able to return to the camp with his telepathy intact, but now he would be going in defenceless. If there was ever a time to get out before things went too far, this was it.

The man standing at the truck doors was looking over at Charles, obviously waiting for him to comply.

Charles hesitated for a moment before lifting his hand and placing it on the X.

Reaching to the side of him, the man pressed down on a switch and the mechanism descended- fixing a cuff to everyone’s wrist with a loud clicking sound, following by a sharp pinching sensation that Charles registered as the cuff dispensing its drug. Clearly there had been some changes to the design since Charles was last at the camp- it wasn’t the same fit or feel as the previous cuff, and obviously Erik wasn’t around this time to activate them.

People were looking around in confusion- bewildered and angry murmurs filling the truck as they started to realise that something was wrong; this made all the more clear when the visible mutations of several people began to disappear. Some of them started to fight, riling against the restraints that still held each of their arms in place, but to no avail. The man in charge gave a quick shout, and the truck began to move.

 

 

 

It took a long time for them to reach the camp, and it was an uncomfortable journey for all concerned. Many of the mutants talked amongst themselves- low whispers as they discussed what they thought was happening, but clearly none of them really knew the answer. Charles suffered the journey in silence, resting his head back against the wall of the truck with his eyes closed, trying desperately to think of a new plan.

By the time they arrived, he still didn’t have one.

The door to the truck opened just as the mechanism holding each of their arms released, leaving the cuffs in place on their wrists but allowing each person to stand up at last and move towards the doors and out of the truck, albeit some more reluctantly than others. Charles stepped down to the ground, blinking in the low sunlight of the afternoon and surveying his surroundings- noticing that the other truck, presumably containing the humans, had not arrived in the same place.

It was the same camp, no doubt, although it seemed quieter than the last time Charles had been here. Charles couldn’t see anyone else around, other than the inhabitants of the truck and the people shepherding them, and it made him feel even more uneasy than previously.

One of the people in charge instructed everyone to follow him down a nearby path, moving to lead the way as others began to trail after. Charles walked in the same direction, wandering nervously after the crowd and scratching at the cuff on his wrist uncomfortably. He only made it a few steps, however, before a hand roughly grabbed him on the arm.

“We meet again, myshka”, Azazel said, staring down at Charles coldly. Charles opened his mouth to cry out, but the sound was taken as he was.

 

 

 

One second Charles was standing in sunlight, the next he was in darkness. Charles pulled back from Azazel as he arrived- wrenching out of his grasp and stumbling a few paces away, eyes adjusting to the dim room and taking in the lab he was stood inside; his lab- the hangar he had worked in with Hank. It looked different though- discarded items cluttering up the place, surfaces grimy with disuse, Shaw standing in the centre of the room and staring back at him…

Charles froze, heart leaping into his throat as he took in the sight, before his eyes adjusted further and he noticed an additional presence behind Shaw- a man, leaning on a desk at the rear of his room with his back to them. Erik.

“So wonderful to see you again, professor”, Shaw said coldly, eyes fixed on Charles with his arms folded across his chest.

Erik startled where he was leaning, standing up from the desk and whirling around to face Charles. Their eyes locked, and immediately Charles could sense it- the wave of emotion he always felt when Erik was around; Erik’s devotion and affection washing over him. But then Charles forgot how to breathe for a second as suddenly he remembered something- he was wearing a cuff; his telepathy was inaccessible. Whatever emotion he was experiencing, it didn’t belong to Erik- it belonged to him.

Erik looked at him like a mirror; the pained and longing expression on his face a pure reflection of what Charles was feeling, his jaw tensing as he slowly clenched and unclenched his fists at his side. Neither of them spoke, just staring at each other helplessly, until Shaw moved to draw all of the attention back to himself, like usual.

“I must say, professor, I was very surprised to hear you’d returned”, Shaw said slowly, unfolding his arms and stepping closer. “Although, perhaps not as surprised as I was when you left in the first place… We had a deal, if I recall- you agreed to work for me, and then the next day I sent Azazel to retrieve you, only to be told by Erik that he’d let you go”.

Charles eyes darted over to Erik uncertainly, before moving back to Shaw.

“As you can imagine, I wasn’t best pleased…” Shaw continued, gritting his teeth slightly. “Erik seemed to think he’d done the right thing, and I had to spend some of my precious time convincing him that he was wrong… I think he got the message in the end, particularly after I informed him that I would be taking over the operations here, as clearly he wasn’t fit to be leader anymore”.

There was a further surge of feeling in Charles’ chest: guilt. It was his fault; he was the reason Erik was no longer in charge of The Brotherhood, he was the cause of Shaw taking over and implementing his new regime. Charles had known that there might be trouble at the camp after he’d left- that Shaw would likely be angry as a result of his desertion- he just didn’t imagine that the repercussions of his actions would be this severe.

Charles glanced over to Erik again forlornly, as Erik looked away.

“So, professor”, Shaw said, drawing Charles’ gaze back to him. “I think you owe me an explanation. Why did you leave, and why are you back now?”

Charles swallowed a large lump in his throat, considering carefully how he should speak to Shaw and staring hard at the ground.

“I, um… I just needed to go home- to return to my job and my friends. When I finally did, I realised that it wasn’t really what I wanted. I missed working with the recruits here- helping them develop their abilities. I realised… the error of my ways. I realised how much work I still have to do here. So, I came back”.

Charles flicked his gaze back up to Shaw, watching him cautiously and waiting for a response. Eventually, Shaw smiled- a sickening grin that Charles took as a sign that Shaw was pleased with what he’d heard.

“Erik always said you were very smart, professor…” Shaw smirked. “You’re right- you do have work to do here, and I can’t wait for us to get started. I must admit, I’ve really missed having a telepath at my side, ever since Emma moved on… It’ll be lovely to have you in her place, though I think we’ve got a long way to go before I trust you enough to remove that cuff. But, first things first- you need to get settled back into your home- get some rest, and then we’ll start bright and early in the morning when you’re suitably refreshed. Azazel will show you to your cabin”.

Shaw clicked his fingers and Azazel moved over to Charles, reaching to place a hand on his arm. Charles’ eyes flew over to Erik once again, just locking together before Charles was pulled from the room.

 

 

 

Charles was home. It was a stupid way of thinking of it, but Charles accepted the association nonetheless.

The cabin was unchanged since the last time Charles had been there, except for one worrying detail. Anna Marie was gone.

Charles had demanded answers of Azazel- insisting the red mutant tell him where Anna Marie was, and if she was okay. In response Azazel had just smirked cruelly before disappearing from the room, leaving Charles alone with his new roommates.

There were three of them- they introduced themselves as Bishop, Bobby, and Piotr. They weren’t volunteers- they had been taken against their will, much like Charles was originally; arriving in the days since Charles had escaped. Apparently though that made no difference to their treatment- they told Charles that everyone who came to the camp, whether willingly or unwillingly, was now subject to the same restrictions; namely a suppressant cuff on each of their wrists.

Unfortunately, the new roommates didn’t seem to have any answers for Charles in regards to where Anna Marie was, they could only tell him that- since Shaw had taken over- various mutants had been ‘relocated’ to the outerbounds cabins, and they hadn’t been seen since.

Charles could barely sleep that night- worrying desperately about Anna Marie, about Erik- about the whole fucking mess he found himself in, again... The weather also made a good show of keeping Charles awake; sometime after he’d first gone to bed a storm had set in- wind howling and rain beginning to thrash down on the roof. Charles lay flat on his back in bed, listening to the sounds of the downpour with his eyes closed. He’d just begun to fall asleep when he felt it.

The cuff on Charles’ wrist moved, just slightly. Charles wasn’t sure if he’d imagined it or not at first, until there was a second more forceful tug.

Charles sat up in bed suddenly- eyes darting around the dark room, before turning to look at the window behind him. There was no one there, and once again Charles was beginning to think he was imagining things… but what if he wasn’t?

Climbing out of his bed, Charles moved carefully across the room- fumbling for his shoes and sliding them on, looking briefly for a jacket or jumper but not finding one easily in the dark. He gave up quickly, deciding not to risk waking the others- heading outside just wearing his pyjamas and shoes.

The rain was still torrential- hammering down on Charles and soaking through his clothing as he ran quickly over to the nearby toilet and shower block. Charles wrenched open the door, hurrying inside without turning on the lights- using the moonlight to illuminate his way as he moved into the room and stood by the sinks, waiting for… he didn’t know what.

A minute passed, maybe two. Charles paced across the room, shivering in his damp clothes, hoping desperately that he wasn’t wrong- that it hadn’t just been a dream. Then the door opened- wind whistling in and bringing with it a tall figure in a long coat, his face hidden by the hood.

The man stepped further into the room- stopping just inside the rectangle of light that came from the nearby window as he removed his hood.

Charles ran forward without thought; without hesitation. Three steps and he was in Erik’s arms, pressing their bodies together forcefully and wrapping his arms around Erik’s slim waist. Erik let out a grunt as Charles slammed into him before reaching his hands down- but not to pull Charles closer, like he’d expected- instead to push him gently away.

Charles stepped back, confusion creeping over his face as he looked up at Erik for a second, before tilting his head down in embarrassment.

“Sorry…” Charles murmured, shifting uncomfortably.

“Don’t be sorry”, Erik said softly, holding Charles on the upper arms. “I wasn’t expecting such a warm reception, and believe me I’m very happy about it, it’s just…”

Erik trailed off, causing Charles to look up at him in expectation. Erik was smiling softly down at him, before he lowered his eyes and moved one hand to rest on his stomach.

“Shaw”, Erik explained. “Three broken ribs as a punishment for letting you go- a price worth paying to keep you safe. Of course, had I known you’d come back I might have saved myself the trouble…”

Charles reached a hand forward, sliding his fingers under Erik’s shirt and coming to rest his palm down on Erik’s ribs. Erik gave a slight groan in response but he allowed it- looking down at Charles with quiet affection.

“Why did you come back?” Erik said at last.

It was an impossible question, and one that Charles didn’t even want to begin to answer- not fully anyway, not with all the reasons that surged in his heart. Instead, he decided to just share a little of the truth.

“I saw Shaw on the news- I heard him talking about taking over The Brotherhood and recruiting all those new people. I knew something bad was happening, and I knew I couldn’t just sit by and let everyone here suffer under Shaw’s rule. So, I decided to return”.

Erik tilted his head to the side slightly, gazing down at Charles with careful consideration. “Is that the full reason?” Erik asked quietly.

Charles chewed on his lip for a moment, before nodding and removing his hand from Erik’s stomach.

“So what do we do now?” Charles asked, which made Erik huff out a short laugh in response.

“Well, I don’t know, Charles- it was your idea to come back here, what’s your plan?”

“My plan kind of went out of the window when they put this cuff on me”, Charles responded, lifting up his arm. “Can you take it off?”

“No… But I can disable it”. Erik waved his hand and the cuff emitted a small clicking sound that relieved the pressure on Charles’ wrist.

“Thank you”, Charles responded, smiling briefly at Erik, before frowning and asking: “How come Shaw hasn’t blocked your mutation too? He seems pretty pissed at you, and you’re not exactly the most temperate of men… Didn’t you try to fight back when he broke your ribs?”

A flash of tension passed across Erik’s face. “Shaw hasn’t put a cuff on me… because I haven’t given him a reason to. I didn’t try to stop him when he broke my ribs. I didn’t try to stop him when he took over leadership of The Brotherhood. As of right now he just thinks of me as a submissive follower of his, and as long as I keep up the charade he doesn’t have a reason to try and restrain me”.

“But why would you just let him do that?” Charles murmured.

Erik gave a low sigh in return. “Don’t you get it, Charles? Everything I’ve done is to keep you safe. Shaw wanted to go after you- he wanted to bring you back to the camp. The only way I could stop him was to give him something else he wanted- control over The Brotherhood”.

A surge of emotion rocked through Charles as he listened to Erik talk; feelings of guilt and sorrow and responsibility prickling under his skin.

“I’m sorry”, Charles whispered eventually. “This is all my fault”.

Erik shook his head. “No, we both know I caused this whole disaster by taking you in the first place- the fault is mine. But let’s not worry about placing blame; we need to figure out what we’re going to do next”.

“Right, right… Well I guess we just need to wait for my telepathy to return. Hopefully it won’t take as long as last time”.

“Hopefully not… So when you’re back to full power, do you think you can take Shaw down?”

“Yes, I’m sure I can hold him until we decide what to do with him, but of course that’s assuming people like Azazel don’t get it our way…”

Erik shook his head. “It’s not just Azazel. There are others too- loyal to Shaw and keen for him to continue his rule. We’d have to get past them as well. I can help- I’m sure we’ll make a strong team together, but it might not be enough”.

Charles paused thoughtfully, before responding: “There are others I think would help us- Logan, Remy, Anna Marie, maybe Alex and Darwin… Are they still here? Are they still… alive?”

“Yes”, Erik nodded, causing Charles to let out a sigh of relief. “Logan is still holed up in his shack, and Alex remains working for The Brotherhood. I sent Darwin away after what happened with Angel… But Anna Marie and Remy are still here, however Shaw has them in his lab, so we’d actually need to rescue them”.

“Okay”, Charles replied. “Okay- can you get to Logan? Tell him what’s going on, remove his restraints? And speak to Alex too, if you can. I’ll see if I can get to Anna Marie and Remy whilst I’m working with Shaw tomorrow”.

Erik pulled a face. “I don’t want you anywhere near Shaw…”

“I know- believe me, I’d rather stay away too. But it’s only for a short time whilst we get everyone prepared, right?”

Erik gave a slight scowl, but he nodded. “Alright, fine… Just be careful, okay?”

“I will”, Charles promised, before asking: “Erik, what happened to Mystique? And where’s Emma? She helped me you know- she enabled me to escape. Shaw said before that she had… moved on. What does that mean?”

Erik looked down despairingly. “Mystique’s gone”, he replied quietly. “When things started to go south for me I got Kurt to take her away. As for Emma… She tried to help me, and she died because of it”.

Charles’ eyes grew wide in disbelief. “Shaw killed her??”

Erik nodded sadly. “It’s all my fault…”

Charles looked down at his feet, feeling the weight of everything he faced on his shoulders- trembling from the cold as well as the stress and uncertainty of the situation.

Erik looked back up at him eventually, before moving forward.

“You’re shaking”, Erik murmured, reaching to pull Charles towards him.

Charles went willingly, slipping his arms around Erik’s waist under his jacket, pressing his face into Erik’s chest. Erik held him fiercely- sliding his arms across Charles’ back to pull Charles against his body tightly, even though it must have hurt his damaged ribs. Erik pressed his face into Charles’ hair, breathing him in and after a while beginning to place ardent kisses against the top of his head over and over again.

The embrace helped Charles to calm down; the heat of Erik’s body overcoming the chill he felt, the protection of Erik’s arms enabling him to feel secure again, which Charles suddenly realised was how he had come to feel every time Erik held him.

Charles lifted his head from Erik’s chest, looking up as Erik moved his hands to gently hold Charles’ face. Their eyes remained locked for a long duration, Erik’s fingertips gently tracing the skin below Charles’ ears softly.

“You should go”, Erik murmured eventually. “I wouldn’t want you to get caught with me- it’s not safe”.

“I feel safe with you”, Charles blurted out.

An expression of pure joy filled Erik’s face as he smiled widely, before leaning close to place a single kiss to Charles’ cheek.

“Thank you…” Erik whispered against Charles’ skin, though Charles wasn’t entirely sure what Erik was thanking him for.

Erik moved away, letting go of Charles reluctantly and stepping a few places back.

“Will you meet me here tomorrow night?” Charles asked. “We can compare notes”.

“I’d love to”, Erik replied, still smiling.

Charles paused, considering continuing the conversation for a moment before he returned Erik’s smile and turned away. He looked back over his shoulder once, finding Erik still watching him, before he opened the door and stepped outside.


	11. Chapter 11

 

 

Charles awoke feeling apprehensive for the day ahead. The fact that he knew the suppressant cuff on his wrist had been deactivated was a small relief, but his telepathy still hadn’t come back yet, which meant that Charles would be facing Shaw unarmed.

Azazel arrived promptly- materialising at the cafeteria just as Charles was getting ready to leave; his uneaten breakfast on the table in front of him. Charles didn’t want to eat, he wanted to talk- he wanted to find out about what was happening at the camp- but the atmosphere was quiet and stilted, and no one was particularly forthcoming with information.

Charles wandered over to Azazel cautiously, knowing that he had no choice but to go to Shaw, but delaying nonetheless.

“Time to work”, Azazel said coldly, reaching to place a hand on Charles’ arm. There was a strange whooshing sensation that Charles had come to accept as part of teleportation, before he found himself in an unknown room.

Shaw was waiting, of course. He regarded Charles with a predatory gaze- sitting behind a desk in a large chair, almost like a king in a throne room. Charles looked over at Azazel uncertainly, but the man only smirked briefly in return before disappearing.

“Good morning, professor. I hope you’re as eager to get started with our work as I am… Please, take a seat”. Shaw gestured to the chair opposite him, encouraging Charles to sit down which he did reluctantly.

“So, Charles- may I call you Charles?” Shaw asked. He was being far too friendly for Charles’ liking, but he nodded anyway. “Excellent. So, Charles- I suppose you’re wondering exactly what it is that I want you to do for me… I know you were doing some work for Erik on helping mutants develop their powers, and what I require from you is very similar, albeit perhaps a little more… extreme”.

“Extreme?” Charles murmured warily.

Shaw gave him an unsettling smile in return. “I’m not a fan of doing things by half-measures, Charles. I demand results, and I’m accustomed to getting what I want. As you may have gathered from the cuff that you’re wearing, we’re not opposed to using serums in order to manipulate mutations- only on this occasion what we want to do is increase them, not restrict them”.

“How?” Charles asked. “A mutation is a mutation- it’s uncommon, but it’s a natural occurrence, so it’s as stable as it can be at the level is already is. If you mess with that- if you try to force a stronger reaction, there’s no way of knowing what damage you could do”.

Shaw pulled an unimpressed face. “Charles, don’t be so obtuse. Science is all about research and development, is it not? How else are we supposed to advance- how are we supposed to unlock the secrets of evolution, if not through experimentation?”

Charles paused carefully. “I… I understand what you’re saying, but hurting people--“

Shaw let out an abrupt laugh. “Why Charles, what makes you think I would want to hurt people?”

_“Oh, I don’t know- maybe the fact that I saw you rip a girl’s head off…”_ Charles thought bleakly.

“Charles, you misunderstand me. I want to help mutants- I want them to be able to unleash their full potential. Okay, so perhaps sometimes we might have to use somewhat unorthodox methods to achieve results, but I fully believe it will be worth it in the end”.

“But what about the humans?” Charles blurted out. “Why are you recruiting them? How does that fit into your plans for mutant domination?”

Shaw chuckled briefly. “You’re very inquisitive, Charles… I like that. As it happens, that’s the part you’re going to be helping me with. Humanity is… beneath us. Your friend Erik was at least right about that- mutants are superior to the common man, but that’s not to say we can’t help them to… advance”.

Shaw stood up abruptly, moving around to Charles and gesturing for him to follow. “Come with me, Charles- let me take you to the workshop; I want to show you the future of humanity…”

Charles paused for a few seconds before standing reluctantly; following Shaw out of the cabin and over to a nearby building which had all of its windows boarded up. A man Charles didn’t know stood guard at the door, but he moved when Shaw and Charles approached, allowing them both to enter.

The room inside was dim and dingy- smelling of sweat and flesh and harsh chemicals. Charles followed Shaw cautiously into the room, taking in the sight of dozens of people lying on hospital beds, restrained, many obviously in pain… Charles’ heart ached for them, feeling like as much of a sadist as Shaw was for just standing by and not helping them.

“This is humanity”, Shaw explained. “Weak… pathetic… unevolved. We’re going to help them- we’re going to turn them into something better”.

“How…?” Charles murmured helplessly.

“Oh, Charles- I would love to stay here and explain it all to you, but I need to continue helping our mutant brothers and sisters, rather than these… unfortunate creatures. I’m going to leave you in the capable hands of my associate, who will explain everything to you”.

At that, Shaw gestured and a man with a shaved head stepped forward, crossing over to them in brisk strides. He offered his hand and Charles accepted it reluctantly, shaking briefly before letting go.

“We’ll talk again tomorrow morning, Charles”, Shaw said. “I expect great things from you…”

Shaw turned and walked abruptly from the room, leaving Charles alone with his new escort.

The man that had joined Charles introduced himself as Ajax. He walked Charles around the room, explaining what maniacal scheme Charles had volunteered to help with… They were injecting the humans with a serum that would activate any mutant genes hidden in their DNA, but it wasn’t just as simple as all that. In order for the drug to work the subjects needed to be put under extreme stress; meaning pain. Awful pain- a torture exacted over and over again…

Charles didn’t hurt anyone on that first day- he couldn’t, he wasn’t capable. But he helped administer the serum and run tests, trying to ignore the horrendous screams that came from the adjoining rooms in the building, trying not to cry as he listened to the agonising sounds. It was a relief to find that Shaw mainly wanted Charles to perform more of a desk job- Ajax directed him to what would be Charles’ office; a small lab where he could monitor the results of the experiments.

Charles worked quietly for most of the day, sat alone in his office with his head down- working on testing samples and typing up notes. He wondered where Shaw was- what he was doing, who he was hurting… What worried Charles most was that he hadn’t seen Anna Marie or Remy yet. Shaw had said he would be going to work with the mutants, which meant that it was very likely he was with them, and heaven knows what he was doing to them.

The window in Charles’ office was boarded up, but there was a small gap between the planks that let a thin sliver of light in. Moving over to the window, Charles crept up onto his tiptoes to peer through the gap- looking at the scene outside. Much like in the rest of the camp, things were quiet. Very few people were around, save for several individuals standing at the entrance to another large building like the one Charles was in.

The mutants were in there- Charles was sure of it; there was no other reason he could think of why the area would be so heavily guarded. Although it was unsettling not fully understanding what was going on, the assumption at least gave Charles an aim in mind for when he and Erik made their move- clearly these two buildings were the centre of everything that was going on at the camp, and this would be where they would need to come when they tried to take back control.

The door to Charles’ office suddenly swung open, causing him to abruptly step back from the window- smoothing down his clothes and attempting to look casual as Ajax stepped into the room.

“Come with me”, Ajax instructed, “I need your help with one of the subjects”.

Charles followed Ajax reluctantly, leaving his office and walking briskly across the main room. “What’s the problem- what do you need me for?” he asked warily.

“We need to administer the serum on one of the humans, but he’s proving very difficult to handle”.

“Why? Is he fighting back?”

“No, he’s just really fucking annoying”.

Charles screwed up his face in confusion, until Ajax pulled back a plastic curtain and Charles got a look at the person they were talking about.

“Well hey, Charlie boy- I wondered if I’d ever see you again”, the man grinned from where he lay back strapped to a hospital bed.

“Wade…” Charles murmured.

Charles had suspected that Wade might be here somewhere, but he’d hoped he was wrong- he didn’t want to believe that one of the screaming voices might belong to someone he knew.

“Can I leave you to deal with this one?” Ajax asked. “He’s giving me a fucking headache…”

Charles nodded and Ajax walked away, leaving him alone with Wade.

“Well, I guess I can’t say you didn’t warn me…” Wade said. “Turns out, this superhero camp is actually super sadistic. I would at least have expected a turn-down service, instead I got fisted… Not literally. Well, maybe a little bit…”

“I’m sorry, Wade. I really wish you hadn’t come here…” Charles paused, considering offering Wade a small sliver of hope- perhaps hinting that he would be rescued soon, but Charles didn’t want to risk it.

Charles looked over to the syringe on the table next to him, and Wade followed his eyes.

“Time for a hit of the super serum, huh? You’re gonna make me all big and strong like Popeye? Alright, I’m ready”.

“You don’t have to do this, Wade”, Charles said, rather pointlessly- clearly both of them knew there was no other option.

“Meh, it’s alright. I had no other plans tonight besides washing my hair. Let’s give it a whirl. Who knows? Maybe I’ll develop the ability to grow an even bigger penis”.

Charles smiled slightly but remained despondent as he picked up the syringe and moved to administer the drug. This part, at least, was painless. Charles watched the serum flow through the IV, feeling guilty and hopeless and inhumane. They were going to hurt Wade after; Charles knew how the programme worked, he only hoped he would be able to take over and put a stop to things before too much damage was done.

After he was finished with Wade, Charles returned to his office to hide in shame- remaining there for the rest of his shift until he was told he could go.

The rest of the evening passed slowly- Charles went to the cafeteria for dinner, though he barely ate, and once again no one seemed particularly keen to talk to him. Charles tried to get some conversations going- he spent the rest of the day in the rec room, attempting to speak to the other mutants whilst playing cards or chess, but no one was biting. Charles wondered if perhaps Shaw didn’t like them to socialise, and whether there had been punishments for this in the past.

When the night drew in Charles returned to his cabin, though he didn’t even attempt to sleep. He lay in bed with his jacket and shoes neatly placed at his side, waiting for the familiar pressure on his cuff that signalled Erik was nearby. When it came, Charles quickly pulled on his shoes and jacket, before heading outside.

 

 

 

Erik was waiting for Charles in the shower block, pacing back and forth in the dim room. The relief that Charles felt when he saw him was insurmountable, and clearly Erik was experiencing a similar sensation as he walked over to Charles hurriedly- the two of them meeting in the centre of the room and hastening into an embrace.

Charles rested his head against Erik’s chest like he had the previous night, breathing him in and holding Erik around the waist.

“I’m so glad you’re okay”, Erik murmured against Charles’ hair, caressing Charles’ face with his fingertips. “I was worried Shaw might…Well, you know what he’s capable of. What happened today?”

Charles pulled his head back slightly and looked up to him. “Shaw’s a monster. He’s experimenting on the mutants- injecting them with some sort of drug to try and enhance their powers, and that isn’t even the worst part. He’s hurting the humans too- torturing them to try and force them to mutate. It’s barbaric…” Charles trailed off, trembling.

Erik gazed down at him sympathetically, but his expression showed no surprise…

“You knew”, Charles realised. “How long have you known what Shaw was doing?”

“Long enough… I told you before that when Shaw started taking an interest in the camp I began looking for a way to stop him- that’s because I knew what he was planning. I had hoped to stop his program before it officially came into effect, but I screwed up, and now…” Erik paused, looking away from Charles painfully.

“We’re going to stop him, Erik”, Charles offered, gripping Erik lightly on the waist. “We’re going to make sure he never hurts another person ever again”.

Erik nodded, turning back to face Charles. “I know. How are things coming along with that- can you use your telepathy yet?”

“No…” Charles grumbled. “Everything’s still woefully blank. I didn’t think it would take this long…”

“It’s the drug”, Erik explained. “They’re using a more concentrated version- it takes a while for it to leave your system, unfortunately”.

“Dammit…” Charles muttered. “So, what about your part of the plan- did you speak to Logan and Alex?”

“Yes- Logan’s on board. I couldn’t take off his restraints completely; we don’t want anyone suspecting what we’re up to, of course, but I’ve made it so that he can be of use to us, should we need him. Alex is a little more uncertain… He doesn’t support Shaw, but he doesn’t want to go up against him either. I think he’ll come around though”.

“Good, okay well at least that’s something”. Charles was beginning to feel a little bit hopeful, like he wasn’t facing this situation alone anymore.

“Did you find Anna Marie or Remy?” Erik asked.

Charles shook his head sadly. “No, but I think I have an idea of where they are. There’s a particular building that Shaw won’t let me near- a large hall with all the windows blocked up- I think that might be where he’s keeping them. I only… I only hope that they’re still alive. I just hope that we can all get out of this mess in one piece”.

Erik held Charles’ face carefully, tracing his thumbs against Charles’ jawline. “I know… me too”.

A sudden thought occurred to Charles- one that he wasn’t sure he should vocalise but he found he couldn’t help himself anyway.

“What are you going to do afterwards?” Charles enquired. “If everything works out- if we manage to stop Shaw and close down the camp- what will you do? Where will you go?”

Erik pursed his lips slightly, looking down at Charles’ face. “I don’t know… I don’t really have anywhere to go. I haven’t had a home since my parents died; after they were killed I just kind of moved around, and I suppose this camp has been my longest residence since then. When it’s gone… I don’t know”.

“What about you?” Erik added. “I assume you’ll just go back to your normal life, right? Teaching at the university?”

Charles frowned and bit his lip. “No… I quit my job”.

Erik’s eyebrows raised in surprise briefly.

“I couldn’t do it anymore- after everything that happened at the camp it just seemed so trivial”.

“Charles… your job- teaching people, helping them- it isn’t trivial”, Erik protested.

“I know, I know… But it isn’t enough. What I was able to do here- helping people like Alex come to terms with their mutations and control their powers- that’s what I want to do with my life. That’s why… I’m planning to set up a school for mutants; a place for them to live and learn and train”.

Erik’s mouth parted slightly in surprise. “Like the camp?”

Charles gave a wry smile in return. “No, not exactly- I’d like to think there would be significantly less kidnapping and murder than that…”

Erik smiled. “Of course, naturally”.

There was another revelation to follow, and Charles knew that sharing it would likely forever change the nature of his relationship with Erik- it would transform them from captor and captive to… something else. Or maybe that had already happened, back when Erik had let Charles go and he had decided to come back anyway.

“You could help me…” Charles murmured. “You could… live with me, at the mansion, and help to train the mutants, by my side…”

Erik’s expression faltered- mouth softening, eyes growing warm and wet. He stared at Charles for a long moment, hands still cupping his jawline, before pulling Charles close and pressing his face into Charles’ hair.

Erik placed kisses against the top of Charles’ head, like the had the night before- holding him close whilst Charles pressed his face into Erik’s chest, sliding his arms tightly around Erik’s waist. Erik’s fingers continued to trace along Charles’ face as his mouth moved position- coming to kiss along Charles’ forehead, across one eyebrow, over Charles’ closed eyelids, against his cheek, just brushing against the side of his mouth…

Charles started to move into it but Erik withdrew; gazing down at him fervently whilst Charles looked up in return with wide blue eyes dilated with passion. A line was about to be crossed here- Charles could feel it- and that line was Erik’s lips.

Charles tilted his head upwards, reaching for Erik until…

There was a sudden breeze, almost like the door had blown open, but it hadn’t- the displacement of air came from Azazel and Shaw teleporting into the room.

Charles and Erik whirled abruptly, moving apart from each other as they regarded Shaw in mild horror.

“My my, what do we have here?” Shaw said, eyes raking over them dangerously. “I thought we understood each other, professor- I thought you were committed to working with me, but instead of resting in preparation for tomorrow I find you here in the arms of this… disappointment”.

Erik visibly bristled, turning to face Shaw as he pulled Charles behind him protectively.

Shaw laughed unkindly. “There’s no need for that, Erik. I know you’ve always had trouble sharing your things, but Charles belongs to me now…”

“He is **not** yours”, Erik snarled, as Charles reached to grasp Erik’s arm pointedly in an attempt to restrain him.

“You don’t need to be jealous, Erik- I don’t need Charles for any scandalous reason… only for help with my research. Still, I would prefer it if he was able to concentrate on his work, which means that these late-night rendezvous of yours will need to come to an end. In fact, I’m going to have to insist that Charles come stay with me, so I can keep a closer eye on him”.

“No”, Erik uttered defiantly.

“Erik…” Shaw tutted disapprovingly. “Did you not learn anything from your last lesson? Perhaps I need to break a few more of your bones so that you understand…”

Charles didn’t know what to say, or if he should even say anything. This power struggle between Shaw and Erik had been going on for a while, and Charles felt like nothing more than a pawn stuck in the middle of it. All he knew was that this really wasn’t the time for this particular fight. The plan was to just keep quiet and go along with Shaw’s regime until they were ready to make a move, not to start the conflict now. It was too soon.

“It’s okay, Erik”, Charles said eventually, still holding Erik on the arm as he moved around him and edged closer to Shaw. Erik looked down at him incredulously, still mouthing “No”, but Charles ignored it.

“I’m committed to this project”, Charles stated to Shaw. “Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. Just… let Erik go”.

Shaw laughed bitterly in return. “Charles, do you take me for a fool? Don’t you think I can see what’s going on between you- how you’re trying to protect each other? You don’t care about my program, or about my plans for the future. You only care about… him”.

Shaw’s eyes flicked to Erik menacingly as he continued to talk to Charles. “Erik is a distraction; you understand? He will only stop you from fulfilling your full potential. I think… that the only way to ensure you are able to do as I ask… is to eliminate him”.

Charles dug his fingers into Erik’s arm as he felt the tension rise up in him.

“I don’t really want to do this…” Shaw continued. “I don’t like hurting my own kind, but sometimes sacrifice is necessary”.

“Don’t!” Charles interjected, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. “Shaw, if you kill him I will never work for you, no matter what you do to me”.

Shaw paused for a second, considering Charles’ words. “Perhaps you’re right, I suppose Erik would be of little use to me dead… but alive… vulnerable… at risk… that sounds rather motivating to me”.

Charles liked where this was going even less, but at least Shaw wasn’t threatening to kill Erik anymore. However, that didn’t mean that Erik would be any more willing to comply…

Charles had just opened his mouth to say that he agreed; that he would do what Shaw wanted, when suddenly there was a sharp yank on his wrist as Erik removed the cuff with his powers and directed it at Shaw. Erik was fast, but not fast enough… Azazel grabbed hold of Shaw’s arm and teleported them both from the room before the cuff reached them, causing it to fly into the wall and smash into a dozen pieces instead.

A slight yelp left Charles’ mouth as he whirled to look at Erik; eyes locking just for a second before Azazel returned, and Charles felt himself be taken.

 

 

 

“Tell me where he is”, Charles demanded.

Shaw regarded him coolly from the opposite end of the table they were both sitting at, looking up from his breakfast for a second before continuing to eat.

“All in good time, Charles… Eat your breakfast”.

“No!” Charles shouted, causing Shaw to look up at him again in annoyance. “No…” Charles added more quietly. “I’m not doing anything you say- not until you let me see Erik. Not until I know he’s alright”.

Shaw regarded Charles for a long moment, before looking away again. Charles was shaking slightly- trembling from the stress and the uncertainty of the situation, but mostly from pure fear.

After Azazel had taken him, Charles had found himself trapped in Shaw’s cabin- locked in a room whilst Azazel went back and did God knows what to Erik. The only slightly reassuring thing about the situation was that Shaw was with him- only comforting because it meant that Shaw couldn’t be breaking Erik’s bones, like he’d threatened to do. Still, being held captive by Shaw was an impossibly perilous situation, and Charles could barely move in dread of what Shaw might do next.

He didn’t hurt Charles though, instead he walked him around the cabin- showing Charles to what would be his new bedroom. The idea of staying with Shaw made Charles feel sick, but he supposed it was at least something that Shaw’s residence was large enough to grant Charles his own room.

Charles didn’t sleep that night, not really. He lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, thinking desperately about Erik and wondering whether he was okay. Their plan for taking over the camp had completely fallen apart- particularly as Shaw had immediately fitted a new suppressant cuff to Charles’ wrist; stunting his telepathy before it even had the chance to come back.

And so, Charles was stuck pretending to be cordial with Shaw- sitting at a table with him and eating breakfast, like nothing was amiss. Indeed, the only suggestion that anything untoward had gone on at all was the large cut that ran along Charles’ cheek- a souvenir from when he had tried to fight Azazel off.

“Please…” Charles said eventually. “Please, just let me see Erik- just once before we go to the lab, and then I’ll do whatever you want”.

Shaw smirked. “Well, seen as you asked so nicely… Okay, Charles- one visit”.

 

 

 

A little while later and Charles was following Shaw on the short walk over to the nearby buildings. Charles had begrudgingly eaten a few bites of food that morning before showering and getting ready for the day ahead, and allowing Shaw to finally lead him outside. As they approached the building where the humans were being kept Charles opened his mouth to protest- wanting to know why they were going straight to the lab when Shaw had promised him he could see Erik- but then Shaw had continued to walk past the building and Charles felt a sudden hit of horror as he realised where Erik was being kept.

The guards moved apart as Charles and Shaw approached the doorway, granting them access. The first thing Charles noticed about the inside of the building was that it was cleaner- stark and sterilised and cold, rather than dirty like where the humans were being kept. Still, the surroundings didn’t make Charles feel any better.

The mutants were strapped to hospital beds here too- various wires and tubes fitted into their bodies. It was horrifying, particularly when Charles looked around the room and his eyes landed on Anna Marie. He stepped towards her immediately, reaching to grasp her hand and looking down at her in dismay.

“You don’t have to worry, Charles”, Shaw said, “She’s comatose, so she’s not in any pain”.

Charles whirled to face Shaw. “What are you doing to her??” he demanded.

“I’m simply helping her to reach her full potential”, Shaw ratified. “She’ll sleep for a few weeks- the drug slowly seeping into her bloodsteam and altering her DNA, and then when she awakes she will be so much more than she ever was before”.

“What if she doesn’t want that?” Charles spat out bitterly. “What if none of them want any of this?”

Shaw laughed unkindly. “What makes you think I care what anyone else wants?”

It was useless to try and reason with Shaw; Charles knew that. Nothing could stop the will of a madman.

“Where’s Erik?” Charles asked finally.

Another cruel smirk greeted him before Shaw led Charles to a door at the rear of the room.

“You have one minute”, Shaw said, opening the door and gesturing for Charles to enter.

 

Erik was sitting on the floor inside, back against the wall with his arms chained and his head down. Charles stepped into the room, waiting until Shaw closed the door before rushing forward and dropping to his knees in-between Erik’s legs.

Charles reached his hands to Erik’s jaw, tilting Erik’s head up but immediately wincing when he saw the bruises and cuts that covered Erik’s face. Apparently, though, Erik was more concerned with Charles’ injuries.

“You’re hurt”, Erik murmured, reaching his fingers to trace the gash on Charles’ face.

“Yes, but it looks like I got off easy…” Charles replied. “What happened?”

“Azazel and I had a pretty good fight. I threw some metal, he teleported, a few punches were exchanged… Things were going alright for me until he snuck one of those cuffs onto me and killed my powers”.

Charles looked down, running his hand over the black metal cuff that now encompassed Erik’s wrist. “You seem awfully calm for someone who’s chained to a wall right now…”

Erik smiled thinly in return. “You’re okay, that’s all that matters”.

“Yes, but for how long…” Charles murmured, looking around him warily.

“I know. I see Shaw cuffed you too… Guess our plan is off, except…”

Charles looked back at Erik hopefully. “Except what?”

Erik regarded Charles carefully, before sliding his hand around Charles’ neck- pulling him close and resting his face against the side of Charles’ cheek.

“We still have Logan”, Erik whispered in Charles’ ear. “And maybe Alex too. There’s still hope for us, you just have to hold on…”

“But Shaw… What he’s doing… What he wants me to do…”

“I know… I’m sorry, baby- I know it’s hard, but you can’t give up. Please don’t give up on yourself… on us…”

Erik turned his face slightly, just having time to press a heartfelt kiss to Charles’ cheek before the door abruptly swung open.

“Time’s up”, Shaw declared.

Charles withdrew from Erik, standing up and moving to follow Shaw out of the room, indulging himself in one final look at Erik before the door closed.


	12. Chapter 12

 

 

“I can’t do this anymore”, Charles muttered.

Across the table, Shaw looked up from his plate of food, glancing at Charles in mild annoyance.

It was a conversation they’d had many times before over the past few days. When Charles had agreed to dedicate himself to working for Shaw he’d meant it, or at least he meant he would do what Shaw wanted in the meantime until he figured out a way to escape. Unfortunately though the harsh reality of the situation had quickly begun to wear on Charles, and it wasn’t long before he’d protested to Shaw that he was no longer willing to comply.

The first few times Shaw had just chastised Charles- listlessly arguing with him until Charles agreed to do what he was asked. Occasionally Shaw would threaten further consequences- telling Charles that if he didn’t behave he might end up in the labs as part of the experiments, rather than being the one conducting them. In the beginning it hadn’t been too difficult to get Charles to obey; all he’d really been asked to do was to run tests and compile findings, so it wasn’t too much of a trying task for Charles to just keep his head down and continue with his work- even if his stomach churned at the sounds of people screaming nearby.

Sometimes, though, what Shaw demanded of him was entirely harder to tolerate. Charles didn’t like causing others discomfort or pain, be it intentionally or otherwise. In the time that he’d been living at the camp he’d certainly done more than a few things that he didn’t really want to, but he still had his limits- and hurting people was the line he just couldn’t cross.

Charles had told Shaw that- glaring at him defiantly from where they both stood in the lab where the experimentation on humans was taking place. Shaw wanted him to cut someone’s skin off; that’s what essentially it boiled down to. During the course of their tests one of the subjects had reacted favourably- the drug they’d been injected with had caused them to mutate; inducing a growth of dark green scales along their skin. But apparently the mutation wasn’t enough for Shaw- he wanted some of the scales cut away and tested.

Charles refused. It was too much to ask. But unfortunately Shaw had leverage, and he wasn’t afraid to use it.

Grabbing Charles firmly on the arm, Shaw had dragged him over to the other lab where the mutants were being kept- pulling him painfully across the room with a strength far greater than Charles could have imagined. Charles knew where they were going, even before the door to Erik’s cell had come into view.

Charles hadn’t seen Erik since Shaw had locked him up a few days earlier, and it had been worrying Charles sick to wonder what could be happening to him in the meantime. But although he was desperate to see Erik, he didn’t want to see him now, like this, with Shaw so murderously irate.

Once they reached the door Shaw let go of Charles before Azazel quickly materialised to hold Charles in place instead. The door to the cell was pushed open and Shaw walked inside out of view, and at first there was silence- but the quiet wasn’t comforting. Charles struggled lightly in Azazel’s grasp more out of irritation than anything else, but then Charles heard Erik scream and he really started to panic. Trashing frantically, Charles tried desperately to free himself- to go to Erik, to help him, but there was nothing he could do but listen to his pained cries from outside the room.

Before long Charles was screaming too- begging Shaw hysterically to stop whatever it was that he was doing, saying he would do anything Shaw asked if he would just stop hurting Erik.

That got Shaw’s attention. The screaming stopped, replaced by a low groaning that was only slightly reassuring as Shaw walked out of the room, grinning of course.

Charles spent the rest of the day separating scales from flesh with a scalpel; hatred and self-loathing burning hot through his skin and causing angry tears to prickle at the edges of his eyes as the person below his blade screamed. He felt evil; like he was the worst, most disgusting person in the world, and he hated Shaw for making him feel that way almost as much as he hated himself for doing it.

And now, they were here again. It wasn’t even anything big that had set Charles off this time- by this point Charles felt sick every second of every day he was in that lab, regardless of whether he was directly hurting people or not.

And so, he said no. Again.

Shaw directed his attention back to his food, cutting into it slowly and methodically and seemingly ignoring Charles. Eventually, though, he replied:

“I thought we’d already been through this, Charles”, Shaw said glacially. “I thought I had made it clear what would happen should you disobey me. Do you really want to listen as Erik has more bones broken? Or perhaps I should let you watch this time so you really get the message”.

“No, please- don’t”, Charles cried out helplessly. “Please don’t hurt him. Just… if you won’t let me go… I can’t hurt those people any longer, so if you won’t let me go then… then just put me in the lab with the other mutants- make me part of your experiment. I don’t care anymore”.

Shaw looked back to Charles in surprise. “You really mean that?”

Charles could only nod weakly.

“You disappoint me, professor”, Shaw sighed. “I had thought you were stronger than that… I guess I was wrong. I would rather you stayed working for me, but I really don’t have the time to deal with all your moments of self-doubt. So, if that’s really how you feel, then… okay. I’ll give you until tomorrow morning to reconsider, but if you still refuse to work for me then I’ll put you in the program”.

Charles sighed in relief. It was a testament to how truly desperate his circumstances had become that he was now willing to just voluntarily enter Shaw’s twisted experiment; to give up not just on himself but on Erik and his friends also. He didn’t want to surrender- it wasn’t in his nature- but if the choice was between hurting others or hurting himself, then the decision was easy.

 

 

 

Charles didn’t sleep that night. He lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, pretty much counting down his last few hours of freedom. But despite the fact that he’d pretty much resigned his fate to Shaw’s callous hands, Charles’ mind was still whirring- he was still valiantly trying to think of a way out of the mess he found himself in.

That was why, sometime around three in the morning, Charles felt compelled to climb off his bed and wander over to his window- looking out at the nearby buildings which contained the labs and trying to formulate a plan. Charles had been staring at the structures for a while when he saw it- a flame, just beginning to reach out through a gap in one of the bordered up windows in the lab where the humans were kept.

Charles froze, mouth gaping open slightly as the flame grew brighter- large tendrils of fire beginning to creep out of the window and up the side of the outer wall. He didn’t know how long it would be until someone noticed that something was amiss, so time was of the essence if Charles was to seize this opportunity to his advantage. The only question was; could he get out of the cabin without waking Shaw?

The window was a no-go; it was firmly locked, and smashing it would only create more noise than Charles wanted. Instead, Charles walked over and tentatively opened his bedroom door- peering at the dark room outside and feeling a low buzz of excitement when he realised the door to Shaw’s room was still firmly closed. Edging out into the living room, Charles turned immediately towards the front door and crept briskly towards it before reaching for the handle and turning it.

The door was open. Charles couldn’t help but grin slightly at the realisation, though he wondered whether this was pure luck or if it was an indication of how much power Shaw clearly knew he had over Charles.

It was cold and dark outside, but Charles stepped out without even thinking of putting on a jacket or even shoes; he didn’t have time to waste finding them. He inched over to the cabin quickly but carefully, watching in fascination as the fire grew in size- the flames now rising out of several boarded-up windows and beginning to reach the roof. He was trying to decide what to do. Most likely the best thing would be to run- with the fire providing a welcome distraction there was a good chance Charles could at least make it to the perimeter of the camp, though getting over the wall might prove more difficult. Charles couldn’t do it though- he couldn’t just leave his friends behind, so instead he decided to use the opportunity to try and break them out… somehow.

But then, Charles heard it. The sound of screaming.

It was a noise Charles had become familiar with over the past several days but it still chilled him nonetheless, particularly as the gravity of the situation began to dawn on him. The lab was on fire, and all of the humans locked inside were in terrible danger. Forget saving his friends- he had to help those trapped inside first.

Charles didn’t second-guess himself, he just ran towards the burning building with no other plan in mind other than to help anyone he could. He didn’t get far though. Charles was still a few metres away from the building when someone grabbed him from behind and pulled him into the darkness of the trees.

Immediately Charles panicked- thinking that Shaw had got him, that Shaw was going to kill him- but the person who held Charles didn’t seem to have the same unyielding grip that Shaw did, as evidenced when Charles managed to get an arm free to swing behind him and hit his assailant in the groin, causing them to heave out a sharp groan of discomfort before they let go of Charles.

Charles whirled behind him, surprised to find Logan glaring back at him, doubled over in pain.

“Logan??”

“For fucks sake, Chuck- watch where you’re swinging those fists”, Logan huffed.

“Logan, what are you doing here?”

“Your boyfriend sent me”, Logan replied, standing up straight but still glaring slightly. “Magneto. He got a message to me to say that you were in danger and I needed to come rescue you. Although you seem pretty capable of defending yourself to me…”

Charles gaped back at Logan in disbelief. All this time he’d been trying to think of a way to save Erik, not realising that Erik had been doing the same for him.

“You did this??” Charles asked, glancing over in the direction of the fire that was now starting to take over the entire building. The blaze was now so big it was beginning to draw attention, as several of the mutants Charles recognised as Shaw’s followers had begun to arrive on site.

“Not my handiwork, bub. I’m not sure what happened here but this wasn’t part of my plan”.

“So what is your plan?” Charles asked, turning back to Logan.

“To get you out. That’s it”.

“What, me? Just me?”

Logan nodded in reply.

“No, we can’t do that- I’m not leaving without Erik and the others”, Charles protested.

Logan pulled an almost-sympathetic face in return. “Not your choice. Magneto said I need to get you out, that’s it. There’s a teleporter waiting to help us, I believe you met him before- Kurt. The kid’s going to get you out- just you”.

“No”, Charles said again, shaking his head. “I’m not leaving”.

Logan swore, rubbing his jaw with one hand that Charles noticed was still covered by a metal restraint.

“I had a feeling you might make this difficult for me”, Logan responded. “Alright, if you want to do this we need to do it now. We get Magneto, Anna Marie, and Remy- that’s it, we don’t have time to save anyone else”.

Charles opened his mouth slightly to protest but realised quickly he would be pushing his luck. “Fine”, he nodded. “How do you want to do this?”

Logan gave Charles a brusque smile in return. “The same way I do everything- fists first”.

At that, Logan’s claws shot forward out of his knuckles, slicing through the metal restraints that covered his hands. Charles watched in disbelief before he remembered what Erik had said about making it so that Logan could help them if necessary. The original restraints had been adamantium, which Logan couldn’t cut through, and Charles supposed at some point Erik must have replaced them with standard metal- keeping up the illusion that Logan was still trapped but giving him the option to break out at any time.

“Are you ready for this?” Logan asked.

Charles nodded, and the two of them ran over in the direction of the building where the mutants were being kept.

 

They went largely unnoticed at first- most people on site were suitably distracted by the nearby blaze, but as they approached the doors a few challengers stepped out to meet them, before they were swiftly dispatched by Logan.

Logan bounded up the steps of the building, slicing into the door with his claws and shoving it open before pulling Charles into the darkness inside. The room was only dimly illuminated by the light of the fire just filtering in through the gaps in several boarded-up windows, but Charles knew where he was going anyway. He pointed Logan to where Erik was being kept before turning his attention to the patients around him, walking briskly though the room to Anna Marie’s side as Logan ran off towards Erik’s cell.

When Charles reached Anna Marie he was at a bit of a loss- she was unconscious and hooked up to various machines with tubes and wires running in and out of her skin, and Charles didn’t know if removing them would cause her harm. Then again, surely nothing could be worse than remaining Shaw’s prisoner…

Charles pulled the wires out as carefully as he could- completely disconnecting Anna Marie from the apparatus before turning his attention to Remy who was across the room. By the time he had freed Remy as well Logan still hadn’t returned, so Charles ran off to find him. He arrived at the door to where Erik was being kept, finding it open but with Logan standing in the doorway blocking his view, apparently arguing with Erik…

“I don’t care, just take it off!” Erik demanded. Charles barely had time to wonder what Erik was talking about before Logan reached down and Erik let out a shout of pain, causing Charles to shove into the room to see what was happening.

Erik was sitting on the floor, the chains that had previously held him destroyed and discarded on the ground. He was holding his arm which was now streaming blood from a long gash up his forearm; the cuff that had originally encompassed his wrist in pieces on the floor next to him.

Charles rushed forward, slumping to his knees in front of Erik and taking Erik’s arm in his hands before using the bottom of his pyjama shirt to press against the wound.

“Goddammit, Erik- you idiot…” Charles muttered, holding the shirt firmly to Erik’s wrist.

“It’s good to see you too, Charles”, Erik murmured fondly. Charles looked up to find Erik smiling down at him tenderly as he reached with his other hand to brush Charles’ hair off his forehead. “Are you alright- did Shaw hurt you?”

Charles shook his head. “I’m fine. What about you? The other day, I heard…” Charles trailed off, trembling slightly.

Erik shook his head. “I’m okay. He crushed my hand that day… I’m not sure how badly broken it is- it hurts, but it’s manageable”.

Charles tilted his gaze down to Erik’s hand, using his shirt to gently wipe away some of the blood that had streamed down from his wrist and finding dark and painful-looking bruises covering Erik’s skin.

“I’m sorry…” Charles mumbled. “If I’d have just done what Shaw wanted…”

Erik used his other hand to reach up and cup Charles’ face. “It’s not your fault Charles- none of this is”, he said softly, rubbing Charles’ jaw with his thumb.

They regarded each other for a few moments, before Erik spoke again:

“I thought I told Logan to just get you out”, Erik said pointedly. “Not that I’m not happy to see you… but what are you doing here?”

Charles paused, biting on his lower lip and looking down as he continued to wipe blood from Erik’s arm.

“Charles?”

Eventually Charles tilted his gaze to look back up at Erik. “I couldn’t leave you”, he said quietly.

Charles saw something new flicker across Erik’s face in that moment. Granted, it was the same look of affection Erik always gave him, but then was a spark of something different burning deep in his eyes. Hope.

“Well I hate to interrupt this tender moment, but can we please get the fuck out of here?” Logan interrupted. Charles turned towards him and offered a brief apologetic smile, before moving back and reaching to help Erik up.

The three of them moved quickly out of the small room- Erik unsteady on his feet at first and leaning on Charles for support until he got used to walking again. As soon as Erik was stable Charles left his side; rushing over to Anna Marie to check her progress. Unfortunately, her condition hadn’t changed at all.

“I think we’re going to have to carry them”, Charles said, turning towards Logan and Erik. “How far are we going to have to go- where is Kurt meeting us?”

“Erik’s cabin”, Logan replied, “It’ll probably take us twenty minutes or so to get there”.

Charles turned to look back at Anna Marie in dismay. It was a long way to go, particularly when carrying two immobilised individuals, and that’s not forgetting that Shaw could show up at any minute. Still, it was worth the struggle for a chance at escape.

Logan walked over to Remy, reaching down and hauling the unconscious man over his shoulder easily whilst Erik shifted over to stand next to Charles. Erik reached down to Anna Marie, moving to slide his hands underneath her before Charles protested- pointing out Erik’s injuries and saying he would do it instead, but Erik just ignored him and pulled Anna Marie into his arms.

“There’s another door at the back- follow me”, Erik instructed, carrying Anna Marie as he walked towards the rear of the room.

With Anna Marie and Remy as movable as they could possibly be, the group began their escape. They exited the building easily, though Charles had to be encouraged to keep moving when he saw the full scale of the flames coming from the other building. The fire was burning out of control; the screams coming from inside increasing in volume and making Charles’ heart ache with sorrow. More people were on site now and several were attempting to enter the building but getting beaten back by the flames. Charles doubted that anyone inside would survive the blaze.

“Charles, come on- we need to move”, Erik urged, looking over at Charles earnestly.

Charles tried to swallow the large lump that was in his throat, before turning away from the fire and beginning to head into the woods.

 

 

 

The journey to Erik’s cabin was fraught with danger. As soon as they’d moved a suitable distance away from the outerbounds cabins they no longer had the light of the fire to illuminate their path, so they were left stumbling through the trees with only weak moonlight to help them see. Logan was the quickest out of them all- charging through the woods like a man on a mission whilst Erik and Charles did all they could to keep up. It was difficult though; clearly Erik was in pain trying to carry Anna Marie with a potentially broken hand and a deep gash on his wrist, but he refused to let Charles help. In fact, he actively encouraged Charles to run on ahead, though Charles wouldn’t go.

It was a tense time getting to the cabin, but they made it. Logan arrived first- running inside to drop off Remy before coming back to take Anna Marie from Erik and carrying her to the cabin as well. As soon as Logan moved away Charles went to Erik, taking hold of his arm carefully and once again pressing his shirt to the wound on Erik’s wrist that was now streaming fresh blood. Charles kept the pressure on Erik’s arm as he walked with him to the cabin- climbing the steps and entering together, until Erik abruptly pulled his arm out of Charles’ grip.

“What are you doing here?” Erik asked, moving further into the room.

Mystique regarded Erik coolly from her position standing with her arms crossed in the centre of the room, but as he got closer her expression softened- a tender smile spreading across her face as she unfolded her arms and stepped towards Erik. They met in the middle, embracing in a tight hug, though Erik could only manage to hold her with one hand as his bleeding arm remained hanging by his side.

Charles watched them cling to each other, trying to keep a bemused grin from appearing on his face. It was pretty weird though- he knew that, as the leaders of The Brotherhood, Erik and Mystique had a relationship, he’d just assumed it was strictly a professional one- particularly as they’d never seemed especially close any time he’d seen them on the news, or even in person. Perhaps yet again there was more to Erik than Charles first realised…

“Are you okay?” Mystique asked, moving back to look down at Erik’s injured arm. “I shouldn’t have left you... Fucking Shaw, I’ll kill him…”

“Raven, it’s okay”, Erik responded, smiling affectionately and squeezing her shoulder.

Charles was busy trying to fight off an unexpected pang of jealousy when Mystique turned to look at him.

“This is your fault, you know. He sacrificed himself so that you could be free- I hope you at least appreciate that”, she said accusingly.

Charles screwed up his face slightly as he stared back at Mystique, torn between telling her to fuck off and agreeing with her. But then Mystique smiled at Charles for the first time, and he knew that there was no real malice behind her words.

“Um… If it’s okay with everyone else, I’d really like to get out of here…”

Charles looked over to where Kurt stood shifting nervously in the far corner of the room.

“Alright, good idea”, Erik replied. “Kurt, you’ve been to Charles’ house now haven’t you, so you can take us straight there”. He turned to look at Charles for reassurance: “That’s okay, isn’t it?”

Charles nodded in return.

“Okay”, Erik continued. “Take Anna Marie first, then Remy. Be quick but make sure they’re alright before you leave them”.

“Hank should be there” Charles interjected. “Get him to look after them whilst you come back”.

Kurt nodded, stepping forward and reaching down to touch Anna Marie who was lying on the sofa. In a flash they both were gone.

“We should really do something about your injuries…” Charles murmured, walking over to lightly touch Erik’s arm, before moving past him and into the bathroom to retrieve a first aid kit.

Erik frowned as Charles returned from the bathroom. “Charles, leave it- we’ll be out of here soo--“

“Oh, be quiet Erik- let him fix you up”, Mystique interrupted.

Erik didn’t protest further, but he was glowering a little as he followed Charles over to the sofa and sat down- resting his arm carefully in Charles’ lap and allowing Charles to clean up his wound.

“This is all I need, you two ganging up on me…” Erik muttered. Charles allowed himself a brief smile- looking up to find Mystique wearing a similar expression.

By the time Charles had cleaned and dressed Erik’s injured arm Kurt had made two further trips- taking first Remy and then Logan away safely.

“There- that ought to hold until we can get Hank to take a proper look at you”, Charles said, rubbing Erik’s arm gently and smiling up at him.

Charles heard the familiar whoosh of teleportation; turning towards the sound and expecting to find Kurt but letting out a small noise of horror as he saw Azazel and Shaw standing there instead.

All the colour drained from Charles’ face as he took in the sight, feeling frozen with fear as he remained sat rigidly on the sofa. Erik, however, was far quicker to adjust- he stood to his feet immediately and moved to act as a barrier between Shaw and Charles whilst Mystique also readied herself for a fight.

“I thought I might find you here”, Shaw uttered, looking at the three of them callously. “Well, I expected the two lovebirds at least, I didn’t count on the blue meanie…”

Mystique visibly bristled, moving towards Shaw with her fists clenched. “I came back specially to kick your smarmy fucking ass”, she snarled.

Shaw only gave a cruel smile in return. “Always so violent, Mystique- almost like you’re trying to compensate for your lack of wits…”

Charles eventually managed to gather himself enough to stand up from the sofa, moving to stand behind Erik and lightly resting his hand on Erik’s back. Erik turned back to look at him, reaching an arm across Charles’ torso to stop him from getting any closer to Shaw.

Shaw turned to look at Charles in interest, causing a queasy feeling begin to develop in Charles’ stomach as he tried to think of what to say.

“We’re leaving”, Charles stated eventually, rather unconvincingly. “This doesn’t have to turn violent- just let us go”.

A sickening grin quickly spread over Shaw’s face. “Oh Charles, the violence is the best part… I’m sure Erik already knows that, though he’s not so keen when he’s on the receiving end. Perhaps I should have lavished my attention on you instead- I think your skin would look wonderful covered in a few choice bruises”.

Erik immediately tensed at that- every fibre of his being tautening as he glared at Shaw, whilst Charles reached to grab Erik on the upper arm to hold him back from anything he might try to do.

“Enough”, Charles continued, slightly more assertively. “We’re leaving. You’ve got what you wanted- you have control over The Brotherhood; you don’t need us anymore. Just let us leave and we won’t bother you again”.

Okay, that last part was a slight lie- Charles fully intended to go running to Moira and the CIA as soon as he was free in the hopes that they would finally intervene at the camp and shut Shaw down. Still, Shaw didn’t need to know that- he only needed to believe Charles for long enough to let them escape.

Shaw didn’t believe him though, or if he did he wasn’t about to let them leave anyway. “You’re not going anywhere”, he stated menacingly, moving closer to them.

What happened next appeared to Charles as a blur. Shaw only took two steps before there was a flash of blue- Mystique rushing forward to tackle him, which turned out to be an extremely bad idea when Shaw gave her one swift shove that sent her crashing into the nearby wall.

“Azazel, deal with her”, Shaw commanded, turning his attention away from Mystique and advancing towards Charles and Erik instead.

Charles moved to back away but Erik did the opposite- stepping towards Shaw despite Charles’ attempts to restrain him. Erik reached behind him once to push Charles firmly on the chest.

“Run”, he instructed, looking at Charles briefly before turning back to face Shaw.

Run? Just run? Charles hated to admit it but the idea was tempting- to just bolt from the building in any direction as long as it took him away from Shaw. But to leave Erik, and even Mystique? No, he couldn’t do it.

The only problem was, what else could he do? Without his telepathy, Charles had never felt so helpless, and he could do nothing more than watch as Erik and Shaw collided- Erik trying valiantly to hit Shaw, kick him, do any damage at all really. Every blow bounced right off of Shaw, and what was worse was the smug grin of satisfaction that Shaw was wearing, though that grin turned out to be infinitely preferable to the way his face turned calm and deadly as he wrapped one hand around Erik’s throat- lifting Erik into the air as Erik writhed and clawed desperately at Shaw’s fingers.

Charles’ eyes darted frantically over to Mystique, not really expecting her help but hoping for it anyway. In all honesty Charles assumed he would find her engaged in a similar deathmatch with Azazel, but surprisingly she wasn’t. She was lying against the wall where Shaw had thrown her, with Azazel kneeling at her side but not hurting her- the two of them actually seemed to be talking. It was confusing, but not as confusing as when Azazel gave Mystique a quick nod before standing up and simply teleporting from the room.

Mystique rose slowly from the floor, meeting Charles’ eyes whilst Charles gave her a mouthed “What the fuck?” She never got the chance to answer though- in the next second there was a rush of air as Kurt teleported back into the room; eyes scanning the scene in mild horror before Mystique grabbed his arm and whispered something in his ear, and then they were both gone.

Well, this was it then- once again Charles stood frozen, watching helplessly as Shaw brutalised yet another person; holding Erik tight around the neck just like he had with Angel just before he’d pulled her head off. Charles remembered that moment vividly; remembered how easily Shaw had destroyed Angel, and he knew that if he didn’t do something soon then Erik would be lost to a similar fate.

“Please Shaw, don’t kill him!” Charles shouted. “Please- I’ll do anything that you want!”

Shaw turned his gaze to coldly regard Charles.

“Yes, you will do anything I want, Charles, but Erik won’t be around to see it”.

Shaw’s grip tightened, and Charles knew he was about to watch Erik die.

But then there was another flash, like before- a sudden bolt of blue. Kurt and Mystique teleported back into the room next to Shaw, and in the next second Mystique reached for Shaw’s outstretched arm- slamming something down onto his wrist. Charles barely had the time to register what it was before Shaw’s grip on Erik faltered- causing Erik to crash to the ground whilst Shaw took a step back, looking down at his wrist in disbelief.

It was a cuff- one of the suppressant cuffs that had been used to disable the powers of the mutants in the camp. Charles was overjoyed at the sight of it but he didn’t have time to celebrate. He ran to Erik- slumping down onto his knees next to him and reaching to carefully but firmly grasp him on the shoulder. Charles’ focus was on Erik, but he did at least manage to register the satisfying sight of Mystique giving Shaw one firm kick to the face, sending Shaw flying back across the room and smashing into the nearby wall before falling to the ground.

Meanwhile, Erik wasn’t responding. Charles was trying desperately to bring Erik around but his eyes were closed and Charles couldn’t even tell if he was breathing.

“We need to get him some help!” Charles shrilled, looking up at Mystique and Kurt in panic. They responded quickly- Kurt came to kneel down next to Erik, reaching to touch him on the arm before there was a displacement of air and Kurt teleported him from the room.

Charles looked helplessly up at Mystique, not really caring that he was shaking and crying, only thinking about Erik.

He wondered if he would ever see Erik alive again.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are then- the end at last ^_^
> 
> Thank you so much for your support and kudos and comments over the last three months(!) I hope you've enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it <3
> 
> I shall be celebrating the end by obsessively listening to the song that inspired the title: [Power & Control by Marina and the Diamonds.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3Rp_0hoNTY)
> 
> P.S: I have a new story for you next Friday...

 

 

Charles awoke to the sound of an alarm ringing. He turned his head to the side, reaching under the pillow in his sleep-addled state for his phone, but frowning in confusion when he realised the noise wasn’t coming from the device.

“Shittttttt”, Charles exclaimed, eyes opening wide in realisation before he leapt from bed and ran out of his room and down the hall in his pyjamas.

It was the second time this week that Charles had been interrupted by the sound of sirens coming from the underground levels of the Xavier mansion. Charles sped hurriedly down the halls, rounding one corner far too quickly and barrelling straight into Hank who was carrying a pile of books and papers in his hands. Paperwork flew everywhere as they collided, and Charles ended up with a mouthful of blue fur as his face slammed into Hank’s arm.

“Charles, sorry- are you-- I wouldn’t worry I’m sure they know what they’re doi--“

Charles wasn’t listening- he continued to sprint down the hallway, skidding into the elevator at the end and pushing the buttons frantically before standing back and waiting impatiently to descend.

When the doors opened in the basement level Charles hurried out of the elevator and proceeded down to what had become known as The Danger Room; reaching for the fire extinguisher fastened to the wall outside before pressing the button to open the door.

Charles activated the extinguisher as soon as he was inside- dousing the flames that stretched in lines across the floor. When the blaze was suitably dampened, Charles turned his attention to the cause of the fire- glaring at the culprits from across the room.

“Alex, what the hell? I thought you had the direction of your blasts under control by now?” Charles argued.

Alex shifted where he stood, a slightly guilty and apologetic smile playing across his face.

“Sorry, professor. I do have control, it’s just… We were experimenting- seeing if we could use metal to deflect the direction of the beams”.

At that, Alex shifted his gaze over to the person standing next to him, and Charles’ eyes followed.

Erik’s attention was already focused on Charles, and although his expression was apologetic Charles could tell from his mind’s energy that he was actually trying not to laugh.

“Sorry, Charles- it was my fault really. I was just curious to see what we could achieve if we fused our powers. It worked really well having Kurt and Darwin work together, but the result was a little more, erm, chaotic when Alex and I tried”.

Charles glared at Erik in mild annoyance. “You’re supposed to be guiding the students, Erik- not helping them to destroy the place”.

“Yes… I know that, but all experimentations are subject to setbacks- isn’t that what you said to me before?”

That response only made Charles glower more, but he supposed Erik had a point.

“Just… be careful, okay?” Charles muttered, turning around and walking out of the room quickly.

As much as Charles hated to admit it, although some of Erik’s methods may have been a little bit unorthodox he did seem to have a knack of getting the best out of the students at the school…

When they had all returned from the camp two weeks earlier Charles hadn’t been sure at first if Erik would even survive. Shaw had really done a number on him- crushing Erik’s windpipe significantly and cutting off his oxygen to the point that Erik had remained unconscious for a worrying amount of time. Fortunately, though- after some dedicated care from Hank- Erik had pulled through, and the only souvenirs of his time at the camp were some gradually fading bruises, a broken hand now secured with a splint, and a long scar along his wrist from where Logan had cut the cuff off his arm.

Anna Marie and Remy, too, had survived the ordeal unscathed. They had remained comatose for several more hours after they’d been brought to the mansion, before eventually awakening- apparently unaffected by what had happened to them. Hank had checked them over meticulously, looking for any signs that the drug Shaw had dosed them with had harmed them or had altered with their mutations in some way, but everything seemed to be fine. Hank didn’t have long to test Anna Marie though- she’d requested to have a suppressant cuff put back on as soon as she was able, preferring to still keep her mutation constrained.

Everyone had pretty much just moved into Charles’ house after they’d returned from the camp- it seemed only logical given that Hank needed them close in order to monitor them all. Plus, it gave them all a sense of security to be together whilst the ramifications of Shaw’s scheme still rumbled on.

Charles had contacted Moira when he’d returned. Investigators had gone to the camp to determine what had happened with the fire, and of course they’d uncovered varying evidence of Shaw’s experiments- compelling enough that, at last, the CIA were willing to intervene and put a stop to the program. They had taken Shaw into custody- easily managed since his abilities were hampered by the suppressant cuff. Certain people, though, weren’t too happy about Shaw simply being held prisoner… Erik wanted to kill him, and Mystique was on board too- but Charles wouldn’t allow it.

For the most part, Charles tried to put what had happened at the camp behind him and forget about Shaw altogether, though that was easier said than done when there were constant reminders on the news of what was happening. Shaw was going on trial, though it was somewhat redundant when it was clear he would never be released from custody ever again. Still, the formality of the trial at least gave Charles some comfort that Shaw would have to face his crimes. It was slightly unsettling though to think of all the others who had helped Shaw and had seemingly gotten away with it, though there were rumours of a strange man in a red and black suit hunting down and killing some of those responsible...

Whilst the after-effects of camp-life rumbled on, Charles tried to busy himself with work. He still didn’t return to teaching at the university, but he did put into practise his plan of starting a school for mutants, and he already had some students in place.

It was only Kurt at first- he had been eager to learn all that he could from Charles, and so he had stayed at the mansion working on controlling his mutation. After that came Alex- as soon as he’d been released from the camp he’d sought Charles out, followed not long after by Darwin- who had evidently heard about what had transpired on the news and had come seeking answers. Charles worked with them like he had before with Anna Marie, Remy, and even Logan assisting, whilst Hank continued to act as their medical doctor and researcher. Erik, as it transpired, was a natural when it came to working with the students, although sometimes his methods were a little too direct for Charles’ liking. Still, Charles found that Erik was a valuable member of the team, and Charles was sure it wasn’t just because he personally liked having Erik around…

But Charles had competition for Erik’s affections. Mystique had stayed at the mansion too, albeit somewhat reluctantly. She protested that she was only hanging around for a little while, just to ensure Kurt settled in okay- which Charles found confusing until Erik explained that Kurt was actually her son. That revelation clarified something else too- why Azazel had simply abstained from the fight on the night they’d escaped, rather than hurting Mystique. Apparently Azazel and Mystique had a history, and he was actually Kurt’s father… It was a complicated family affair that Charles tried his best not to too get involved in, particularly as it didn’t seem like they would be seeing Azazel anytime soon, given he was busy evading capture by the CIA.

Mystique only remained at the mansion for a few days before Charles offered her a way out. It was clear that she was uncomfortable being tied to one place, so Charles asked her to act as recruiter for the school- travelling across the world to seek out and sign up new students. She seemed thrilled by the suggestion, and took on her new role eagerly.

So, with Mystique busy venturing off in search of new mutants, Charles essentially had Erik all to himself. Clearly though, it was not that simple.

Charles and Erik saw each other daily- working side by side to train the students, eating together, playing chess during their leisure time. But despite Charles’ expectations, their relationship seemed to be strictly professional in nature. Every night Erik would walk Charles to his bedroom, they would say goodbye at the door and Erik would lean down to kiss Charles on the cheek, but then he would just leave and go to his own room. It was driving Charles crazy not understanding why Erik was being so distant towards him, because he could tell from just skimming the surface of Erik’s mind that he still cared about Charles, but without prying deeper he had no idea if that affection translated into something more meaningful.

Charles was thinking about it one night, lying in bed at around two in the morning- trying to sleep but being unable to stop his mind from whirring. After everything he and Erik had been through, after everything Erik had done to claim Charles and fight for him, why was he suddenly so disinterested?

This had gone on for far too long, and Charles decided he needed answers.

Rising from bed abruptly, Charles threw off the covers and walked briskly to his bedroom door- opening it and striding down the hallway in the direction of Erik’s room. He reached the door and knocked firmly, crossing his arms and waiting impatiently for Erik to answer. When he didn’t, Charles knocked more loudly.

Eventually there was movement from inside- Charles felt Erik rising from sleep slowly, clearly bewildered as to why someone would be rapping on his door in the early hours of the morning. After a few short moments Erik opened the door, looking tired and barely dressed- wearing only a pair of pyjama bottoms and a look of mild surprise as he took in the sight of Charles standing in front of him.

“Charles, what--“

“Why don’t you want me anymore?” Charles blurted out.

Erik’s eyebrows raised slightly in consternation, before he reached forward and grasped Charles lightly on one arm- pulling him inside the room and closing the door tightly behind them. Erik stepped back a little into the room, whilst Charles leaned back against the door for support.

“I’m sorry, could you say that again- I’m not sure I heard you correctly”, Erik said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Charles sighed, turning his head to the side and avoiding Erik’s eyes which only made Erik step slightly closer.

“Charles…?”

“It doesn’t matter”, Charles muttered.

“It mattered enough for you to wake me up in the middle of the night”, Erik said softly. “Please, Charles- tell me what you’re thinking”.

Charles paused for a long moment, still avoiding Erik’s gaze nervously whilst he tried to think of what to say. Eventually, he spoke:

“Back at the camp, it seemed like… I mean- what you told me, about how you’d watched me before we met, and then everything that happened between us after you kidnapped me- everything we did in your cabin, and then how you let me go- how you put yourself in danger to keep me safe… It really seemed like…”

Charles trailed off, prompting Erik to take another step closer.

“Charles, what are you saying?” Erik murmured.

Erik reached out a hand to gently grasp Charles on the shoulder, and Charles finally felt ready to look him in the eyes.

“You’ve been here, by my side, every day- and yet you’ve never seemed further away from me. I don’t know what I did to make you be so distant. I don’t know why you don’t want me anymore…”

Charles saw the effect of his words in Erik’s eyes, but he sensed it in his mind too- a surge of feeling, almost like he could feel Erik’s heart breaking.

Erik let go of Charles’ shoulder, stepping away from him which only helped to increase the emotional distance Charles was referring to. Charles was watching Erik’s face carefully, almost desperately, but there was so much pain and longing clouding up his perception and he couldn’t be sure which of them it was coming from.

“You think I don’t want you?” Erik responded at last, meeting Charles’ gaze levelly. “You have it all wrong, Charles… I’ve been trying to allow you your freedom. Everything I did- kidnapping you, using you… it was all wrong. It was all selfish. And so, I’ve kept my distance in order to let you think about what _you_ want”.

Erik’s eyes lowered, and it seemed like the next few sentences caused him great pain to utter:

“How I feel about you hasn’t changed, but what I want is irrelevant. I will never ask you for anything again, and I will never take anything from you either. Your life is yours Charles, to do with as you please”.

Erik tilted his gaze back up to look at Charles once again.

“But just so we’re clear”, he finished, “I’ve never wanted anything more”.

Oh… So that was why Erik had been acting so aloof- he was actually trying to give Charles space; to give him the power to make his own decisions again, something Charles had been denied almost the entire duration he’d been at the camp. It was perhaps the first time in the months in which he’d known Erik when Charles was the one with the control over what happened in their relationship.

Quite frankly, Charles didn’t know what to do about it.

Erik was still looking back at him- eyes fixed and unwavering, mind yearning but not expecting, simply waiting. Charles sensed that Erik would be willing to wait for as long as it took.

Charles opened his mouth slightly to speak but no words came out. He didn’t know how to communicate what he was feeling- how he’d started off hating Erik, only spending time with him out of obligation and desperation; consumed with a sense of self-loathing that almost matched the contempt he felt for Erik. How he’d wanted to abhor Erik even when he was being kind- even when Erik was caring for Charles and protecting him. How it was easy to just believe that whatever emotions he was feeling whenever he was around Erik were simply reflections of what Erik felt, absorbed unwillingly by his hazy telepathy.

But regardless, in spite of Charles’ conviction that his relationship with Erik was simply a necessary arrangement- a means of survival- somewhere inside the walls of Erik’s cabin or maybe in his bed, things had changed. Charles hadn’t fully realised it at first, maybe not until Erik had let him go, perhaps not until he’d decided to return to the camp and he’d seen Erik again for the first time.

Charles’ mind wandered, thinking of how Anna Marie had described her relationship with Remy all those weeks ago at the camp: ‘I know it’s messy and I know it doesn’t make sense, but he makes me feel safe’. Charles decided that summed up his feelings for Erik pretty well.

Still, how to explain all that to Erik?

Charles took two steps forward to close the distance between him and Erik- wrapping his arms around Erik’s waist and coming to rest his face against Erik’s bare chest. Erik was taken aback- Charles could feel it- but he responded earnestly yet tentatively; sliding his hands across Charles’ back to hold him and gradually moving to rest his face against Charles’ hair and breathing him in.

A minute ago Charles had been worried, confused, anxious… Now all he felt was contentment and security- his, Erik’s- it didn’t matter. This was what he had been searching for.

Charles turned his face further into Erik’s chest, pressing his mouth lightly against Erik’s skin- not moving at first but then beginning to kiss lightly along the surface. Charles tilted his head upwards so that his face rested in the crook of Erik’s neck, continuing to place kisses against Erik’s skin. Erik moaned softly in return, sliding his arms more firmly around Charles and pulling him tighter into his body, shifting to place his own kisses against Charles’ hair, his forehead, his ear- whichever parts he could reach.

Like the last time, Charles turned into Erik’s kisses- reaching for his mouth and getting close before Erik withdrew. Erik reached his hands up to hold Charles’ face, thumbs tracing Charles’ jaw gently as he looked into Charles’ eyes- his mind projecting an intense longing for something he desperately wanted but would never again take.

Charles skimmed Erik’s mind for answers, not having to look far to find: _“I can’t… not without your permission… I don’t want to hurt you again…”_

A small sincere smile formed on Charles’ face, before he responded with his own projection:

_“Kiss me”._

Charles felt Erik’s mind light up in a delighted recognition that quickly manifested on his face as he leaned down to close the gap between his mouth and Charles’.

In all the times he had kissed Erik before it had never been like this. Even on the later occasions when Charles had done more than just lie there impassively he had still never fully engaged, so it was an entirely different experience to give himself to Erik so completely now; to slide his tongue into Erik’s mouth and press himself against Erik’s warm body.

Further instructions followed courtesy of Charles’ telepathy, and it turned out that Erik was surprisingly good at doing what he was told.

_“Carry me to the bed”._

Erik was surprised at that one, but he obeyed instantly- sliding his hands under Charles’ ass and lifting him up; Charles wrapping his legs around Erik’s waist to assist as Erik carried him over to the bed. He laid Charles down gently on the mattress- leaning over him and continuing to kiss him passionately until there was a further directive:

_“Undress me”._

Erik withdrew from Charles, looking into his eyes apparently for further confirmation before tilting his gaze to look down at Charles’ clothes. A wide smile spread across Erik’s face, which Charles didn’t quite understand until all the buttons on Charles’ pyjama top suddenly sprung apart and Charles realised that they must have been metal.

Charles started to laugh, reaching one hand to cover his mouth as he realised it was the early hours of the morning and people were still sleeping, but he could do little to muffle the sound- particularly when Erik started laughing too.

Eventually the moment of hilarity passed, and Erik turned his attention to the parts of Charles’ body he had uncovered- kissing along Charles’ neck, across his chest, down his stomach- mouthing along the curve of Charles’ ribs as he reached one hand to tentatively palm at Charles’ slowly hardening cock through his clothing.

_“Is this okay?”_ Erik asked with his mind. Charles didn’t know if Erik was actually trying to communicate telepathically or if he was just thinking to himself, but it deserved a response anyway.

_“I told you to undress me…”_ Charles replied, tracing his fingertips affectionately through Erik’s hair.

Erik removed his mouth from Charles’ ribs and looked back up at him, amusement in his eyes.

“So bossy, Charles… I kind of like it”, Erik grinned.

At that, Erik moved back to a kneeling position before reaching to grasp Charles’ pyjama bottoms- pulling them off in one smooth motion. His focus was distracted then- all attention honing in on Charles’ nakedness as Charles leaned to the side and removed his top as well before coming to sit upright whilst Erik remained knelt between his legs. Charles watched Erik’s face as Erik’s eyes remained fixated on his member- wondering why Erik was so fascinated when Charles had been naked in front of him before, until he remembered how- in all of those moments- he’d only been able to look for a second before Charles had always rolled away from him.

Eventually, Charles reached a hand forward- using a single finger to tug gently at the top of Erik’s pyjama bottoms.

“Take these off?” Charles requested, out loud. Finally, Erik looked back up to meet his eyes, before he also reached down to remove his clothing.

It seemed like Erik was at a loss to do then, as there were no further instructions from Charles- not telepathically, anyway. Instead, Charles slid one hand around Erik’s neck and pulled Erik closer- initiating another long kiss and pulling Erik to lie down next to him.

Charles and Erik remained wrapped up in each other for a long while; lips locked, legs entwined- Erik’s hand resting chastely on Charles’ hip even though Charles could tell he was desperate to transfer his grip to Charles’ cock instead. He didn’t reach for it though, no matter how much Charles moaned in encouragement and shifted himself closer to Erik. In the end, Charles realised that Erik needed certainty from him if they were going to proceed.

_“Touch me…”_ Charles projected.

Erik withdrew for a second- looking into Charles’ eyes intensely before reaching one hand to firmly grasp Charles’ shaft and starting to slide his palm along the length of it; watching Charles’ face carefully as Charles closed his eyes in satisfaction and began to moan softly.

The next projection wasn’t so much of an instruction but a question: _“Lube?”_

Erik ceased his motions on Charles’ cock- leaning to the side and reaching into his bedside table to retrieve a bottle of lube.

Charles gave out a quick laugh as Erik turned back towards him with the bottle in hand. “You moved in here without even any clothing to your name, and yet you already have lube?” he smiled.

Erik looked slightly contrite in return. “Um… I may have been trying to give you space but I didn’t stop thinking about you, or hoping we might…”

Charles laughed again, grinning as Erik smiled back and tapped the bottle of lube against Charles’ arm.

“You want to do this yourself or…?”

Charles shook his head. “I want you to do it”.

Erik smiled wider then, leaning to kiss Charles once again as Charles lifted his leg to rest against Erik’s thigh, allowing Erik the space to reach in-between his legs and towards his entrance.

Charles held onto Erik ardently as Erik used his graceful fingers to work Charles open, sliding the digits inside and just beginning to brush carefully against Charles’ prostate- hesitantly at first but then more vigorously when Charles groaned in response and reached down to reciprocate by stroking Erik’s cock.

When Charles was suitably prepped Erik removed his fingers, withdrawing his face from Charles’ too and gazing into Charles’ eyes attentively.

“How do you want… What position…?” Erik murmured breathlessly, flicking his gaze to look down at Charles’ lips. “Not that we have to… I mean, whatever you want, Charles…”

Charles smiled, before rolling onto his back and pulling Erik with him- opening his legs wide and angling his and Erik’s bodies together, reaching to hold Erik’s member and directing it towards his entrance.

Erik pushed in slowly, watching Charles’ face all the time as he slid his cock inside inch by inch, until the point when Charles closed his eyes and Erik leaned close to kiss him instead.

Finally, for the first time, Charles could really lose himself in what Erik was doing. He didn’t have to hide anymore; he didn’t have to turn away from Erik and try to keep from moaning- he could allow the sensations of pleasure to wash over him as Erik rocked his hips forward masterfully.

Eventually Charles opened his eyes to find Erik already looking down at him, pupils fully dilated and hair falling in his face. Charles smiled at the sight, before reaching to slide his hand around Erik’s neck and pulling him into a kiss. Erik’s hand moved to Charles’ cock as they kissed, beginning to stroke Charles’ shaft earnestly and causing Charles to gasp as he neared climax.

Erik watched him come- his eyes never wavering from Charles’ face as Charles let out a long moan. Erik waited until Charles was finished before pausing to kiss him briefly on the mouth then resuming his rhythm.

Charles was familiar enough with Erik’s body to know when he was close to orgasm. He slid his hands to rest on Erik’s ass as Erik completed his final few thrusts before coming hard with a groan, ensuring he was able to look down at Charles as he finished.

There was a last bout of kissing at the end before Erik rolled off of Charles, lying beside him and tracing his hand through Charles’ hair, still watching his face.

Charles gazed back at Erik, thinking about everything that had happened between them- how they had started and where they’d ended up now.

“Did you ever think we’d get here?” Charles asked at last.

Erik smiled, before replying: “I don’t know, it always seemed pretty fucking unlikely”.

Charles began to smile in return, remembering when he’d said those words to Erik all those months ago.

_“Pretty fucking unlikely, indeed”._

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Cover art for 'Power and Control'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9068995) by [avictoriangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/avictoriangirl/pseuds/avictoriangirl)
  * [Give Yourself To Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11391030) by [Deeranger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deeranger/pseuds/Deeranger)




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